Malawi is a nation with a population estimated at 13.1 million ( Government of Malawi, 2008 ). It was ranked at number 166 out of 177 countries in the 2006 Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Program. The population is predominantly rural (83 percent), and the economy is...

Burkina Faso is a land-locked country, sharing a border with six other countries, namely Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Cote D'Ivoire in the zone of West Africa ( Fig. 1 ). Due to the geographical location of the Sahel region, the country's climate is characterized by rainy and dry...

Stories of disasters in Africa conjure up images of the helpless hordes, in peril and in need of outside assistance. Most of the major disasters in Africa since the 1970s have a significant food crisis and famine component. These could be linked to failed states and complex emergencies such as...

Cartago City is located in the central valley of Costa Rica. Situated at the southern foot of the Irazu volcano and characterized by rugged mountainous topography, the city in general is exposed to multiple natural hazards including floods, volcanic eruption, and pyroclastic flows. Indeed, the...

In creating a response to tropical storms Stan (October, 2005) and Dolly (May, 2008), the Center for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) began encouraging the Guatemalan residents to get involved with disaster planning. Other international organizations are, also, beginning to finance...

Central America is exposed to a variety of natural hazards such as earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslides, and floods. This study considers Central America as a group of six countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, on the basis of their geographical,...