Disaster risk reduction in the livestock sector: the Costa Rican experience

Publication Year

2019

Number of pages

21 p.

As Costa Rica forms part of Central America, it is highly vulnerable to disasters. These tend to have a bigger impact in rural areas, where they cause considerable damage and losses to agricultural production systems. Animal production is strategically important for the country, a dominant activity in rural areas and an important source of employment. It is also one of the types of farming most affected by disasters. Disasters impact animals directly, damage the livestock infrastructure and increase the risk of disease. They can also affect the country’s health status, undermine food security and result in farmers losing their livelihood, with cumulative impacts that can weaken the economy over time.

For those reasons, Costa Rica’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, through the National Animal Health Service and the National Commission for Risk Prevention and Emergency Response, working with other public and private stakeholders and supported by international agencies, has implemented a series of actions aimed at strengthening governance, building capacity and promoting prevention for disaster risk reduction in the livestock sector, making it more resilient to both epidemic and non-epidemic emergencies. This report explores those actions and the National Program on Animal Management in Disasters. The report also evaluates the context of risk in Costa Rica’s livestock sector, as well as the governance of and agenda for risk management. Moreover, the authors analyze economic losses and investments in animal care in disasters, lessons learned from different institutions’ experiences and framework implementation processes, and challenges and opportunities for improvement.

This paper is a contribution to the 2019 edition of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2019).