September is National Preparedness Month. At this time of year people come together as a community to prioritize safety and readiness for unforeseen challenges. From disasters caused by natural hazards to man-made emergencies, being prepared is the key to protecting ourselves, our loved ones and our homes.
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) supports disaster preparedness in a number of ways.
First, NIFA provides capacity funding that helps ensure that Land-grant Colleges and Universities can conduct Extension activities, including disaster preparedness efforts.
Additionally, NIFA funds the Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative Extension Disaster Education Network (FADI-EDEN) project, which supports EDEN, a collaborative national effort by Extension services across the country to improve service delivery to people affected by disasters.
EDEN supports Extension professionals as they:
- Build working relationships with their local and state emergency management networks.
- Provide educational programs on disaster preparation and mitigation.
- Assume locally appropriate roles during disasters.
- Collaborate in recovery efforts.
EDEN links Extension educators from across the U.S. and various disciplines, enabling them to use and share educational resources.
Here are just a few examples of how Extension with NIFA support is addressing challenges created by disasters.
Michigan State University Extension professionals are focusing on Community Capacity Building for Emergency Planning. They are working to enhance partnerships among national, regional and multi-state networks. By adapting existing Extension activities in Illinois and incorporating Michigan’s Mitigation Plan, the project team is creating a formal Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) curriculum. The team is using Extension professionals from Land-grant Universities across Federal Emergency Management Agency regions to review and provide feedback on the HMP curriculum and tools, enabling Extension staff to adapt and implement them effectively in their respective states.
The New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), which runs through eight states in the central United States, could produce damaging earthquakes at any time. University of Missouri Extension professionals are spearheading the New Madrid Seismic Zone Multi-State Public Awareness and Education Project. State Extension programs within the NMSZ are enhancing public preparedness, creating products and establishing a program for Extension professionals to contribute more effectively to regional emergency management activities.
Florida, which is vulnerable to various natural and man-made catastrophes, needs well-informed communities to prepare, respond, recover and mitigate disasters and emergencies due to changing weather patterns and climate. Florida A&M University Extension professionals created the Building Community Resilience to Strengthen to Climate Change and Natural Disasters project to provide information to farmers with scarce resources, at-risk rural and urban groups and families residing in these areas. They used after-school programs, in-class instruction and summer camps to reach young people, while they employed social media to reach the broader target audience. Additionally, older adults received training via preparedness workshops.
People experiencing housing instability are highly vulnerable during extreme weather events. Recognizing this need, University of Connecticut Extension professionals developed Shelter From The Storm: Preparedness Education For Vulnerable Populations In Connecticut to reach them at places they are likely to go, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, social service agencies and libraries. The Shelter from the Storm team focused on engaging people individually or in small groups in short, focused conversations about these weather conditions – severe cold, extreme winds, flooding and extreme heat. Rather than giving lots of information and possibly overwhelming them, the team shared specific actions their audience could take to be prepared and stay safe.
University of Nevada Extension professionals recognized the crucial need to improve residents’ ability to respond to drought. Through their project, Improving Drought Communication in Nevada to Enhance Regional and Local Adaptive Capacity, the Extension team is enhancing long-range planning capability and fostering collaboration between diverse audiences and Extension. Professionals are translating existing resources into Spanish and creating Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant online information to expand the reach of archived information. They are also conducting needs assessments to improve planning for drought resilience among underserved populations. These needs assessments will help the team engage with tribal communities, rural counties, small businesses, people with disabilities, home gardeners and low-income urban communities, populations that are often ignored in the context of drought planning.