The "Adaptive Strategies for Responding to Floods and Droughts" project was supported by the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and US State Department through USAID, Nepal. It involved field documentation of drought and flood response strategies in selected areas of India and Nepal by partner organizations based in the region. The aim of the project, led by the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET), was to develop adaptive approaches to flood and drought mitigation that would enable basic and tangible reductions in vulnerability in the region. By focusing on adaptive strategies the project intended to address the large gap that currently exists between post facto responses to disaster and standard, long-term but questionably effective, proposals for river basin or aquifer management. Adaptive approaches - approaches that can be implemented rapidly without fundamental changes in existing institutions; changed as conditions evolve; and that build off the existing coping strategies populations use to mitigate drought and flood impacts - will greatly increase society’s ability to respond proactively to disasters before they occur.

As part of this project, WII contributed to the synthesis of: 1) results of community asset building efforts of NGOs from drought-hit states of Rajasthan and Gujarat through rainwater harvesting and watershed development programs with respect to livelihoods resilience in drought contexts; and, 2) synthesis of studies under climate change program reflecting vulnerability and adaptation to extreme events, with emphasis on floods and droughts in India. The project culminated with a National Level Dissemination workshop planned during June 2004.