Evaluating drought risk in data-scarce contexts. The case of southern Angola

Abstract This paper pursues a methodological objective, developing and validating a structured approach for the recognition of areas under the highest levels of drought risk, suitable for data-scarce environments. The approach is based on recent scientific outcomes and methods and can be easily adapted to different contexts in subsequent exercises. The research reviews the history of hydro-meteorological drought in the south of Angola and characterizes the experienced hazard in the episode from 2012. Also, it intends to portray the socioeconomic vulnerabilities and the exposure to the phenomenon in the region to fully comprehend the risk. A list and map of these areas at high risk are two of the main outputs of this work. The results demonstrate that most of the region experienced a severe multi-year meteorological drought that was intensifying at the time of writing this paper, and that the majority of its impacts started immediately after the rainfall anomalies appeared. Last, the study confirms that the set of indicators used reveals different facets of vulnerability, leading to different drought vulnerability profiles in the south of Angola and, consequently, to several varieties of priority areas prone to distinctive impacts.