Jonatan A. Lassa

Charles Darwin University | CDU · Faculty of Art and Society

The future of societal resilience depends largely on political commitment to allocate resources to manage and reduce disaster risks and vulnerabilities and build resilience. Lack of political commitment has often been cited as one of the culprits inhibiting countries to prioritize actions towards mitigating hazards and reducing risks in short and l...

Institutions matter because they are instrumental in systematically adapting to global climate change, reducing disaster risks, and building resilience. Without institutionalised action, adapting to climatic change remains ad-hoc. Using exploratory research design and longitudinal observations, this research investigates how urban stakeholders and...

The World Conference on Disaster Reduction 2005 endorsed the first and significant global promotion for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) integration in schools. Within 15 years of progress of the global and national movements for DRR education in Indonesia, this research asks three key research questions: First, how do schools adopt and sustain DRR ed...

Humanitarian and disaster management actors have increasingly adopted cash transfer as an approach to reduce the suffering and vulnerability of the survivors. Cash transfers have also been used as a key instrument in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This article uses an exploratory research strategy to understand how non-go...

There is a lack of framework for assessing impacts of natural hazards, including floods, on education sectors. This research is among the first attempts to adopt the comprehensive school safety (CSS) framework to assess the impact of floods on the loss of quality learning and education infrastructure. The CSS framework is adopted to identify the le...

Unlike many disaster-prone countries in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, there is a lack of study on the history of institutions, governance and policy on Myanmar's experience dealing with disasters. A substantial increase in the literature on Myanmar disaster management policy can be observed only after Cyclone Nargis 2008. H...

Our broad aim was to systematically analyse research on the effect of COVID-19 on smallholder farming during 2019–2021 and to discuss how the research could be beneficial to smallholder farm resilience to future pandemics. The review methods were based on PRISMA guidelines, and 53 articles were included in the final review. The review aims to docum...

Think tanks' role as development policy entrepreneurs and lobbyists is well recognised. Like NGOs, think tanks have also acted as classical intellectual labour cofounded by local and international agencies. This research examines organisational network of Indonesian think tanks. This study aims to understand the nature of networks of policy researc...

World Humanitarian Summit in 2016 call for humanitarian industries including the United Nations and NGOs to bolder promote the use of cash transfers in responding to disasters. This book documents experiences and collects personal accounts on disasters, COVID-19 and cash transfers from disaster survivors in Indonesia whose lives intersect with othe...

Indonesia is a country, which is prone to geological and hydrometeorological hazards, including volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and droughts. Systematic initial responses based on efforts for pre-disaster prevention and its corresponding countermeasures need to be prepared for the improvement of the capacity of local communities...

Purpose This paper aims to identify key factors for a contextualised Systemic Risk Governance (SRG) framework and subsequently explore how systemic risks can be managed and how local institutional mechanisms can be tweaked to deal with the complex Indonesian risk landscape. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study from Palu triple-disasters...

People living in Australia are highly exposed to risks from extreme weather events including floods, bushfires and tropical cyclones. Communication is crucial in emergencies, to prepare for risks, warn people, reduce impacts, save lives and increase resilience. Social media has become increasingly important for both sourcing and disseminating infor...

There is an increase in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) after disasters to assess impacts, including damage and losses worldwide in poorer and more prosperous countries. In Indonesia, there is a substantial increase in the use of UAVs to assess post-disaster damages. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of documentation on the lessons on the effecti...

This special issue calls for a change in disaster studies. This edition directly responds to the call for epistemological shifts from the imperative of the “Power, Prestige & Forgotten Values: A Disaster Studies Manifesto” that we endorsed together with 575 scholars from 63 countries since 2019. The rise of knowledge production, indicated by the wo...

This paper argues that there is a need to create new governing systems at the local level that allow actors and institutions to simultaneously manage the interplays of single and multi- hazards, multi-temporal, multiple dimensions of vulnerabilities, poverty reduction, unplanned urbanisation, environmental degradation, and other residual risks. The...

Humanitarian and disaster management actors have increasingly adopted cash transfer to reduce the sufferings and vulnerability of the survivors. Case transfers have also been used as a critical instrument in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, academic work on humanitarian and disaster-cash transfer related issues remains limited. This ar...

Food security is a composite security concept. Food security is inextricably linked to a set of collective security ranging from state security, human security, and all forms of non-traditional security such as health, water, climate, energy, market, etc. Modern food security is anchored in all forms of security, especially state security, human se...

The strategy to contain and mitigate COVID-19 transmission through strict mobility restriction, including a lockdown option by governments around the globe, can be counterproductive to human security. This is especially concerning for both human and food security if such control measures are implemented without being accompanied by a sound social p...

The evaluation set out to collate evidence of achievements, lessons learned and good practices to come out of the Comprehensive School Safety (SPAB) programme, to inform future national strategies for school safety in Indonesia

Biosecurity and/or biohazard events of global significance are predicted to occur in the future, compromising human security, including food and health security. Due to the rise of biohazards and biosecurity threats that trigger systemic risks that lead to deaths, and multi-dimension crises, including global public health crisis and political insta...

Scholars and policy-makers agree that cross-border and multi-sector cooperation are essential components of coordinated efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 infections. This paper examines the responses of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) member countries to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the limits of regional cooperation. ASEA...

Smallholder farmers in Nepal are vulnerable to climate change-related extreme weather events. Adaptation in the agriculture sector is needed to mitigate social, economic, and ecological impacts from increasing levels of hazard activity. To examine this issue, a household survey of 350 farmers in the Terai region of Nepal was carried out to assess f...

Disaster scholars and practitioners have argued that disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a legitimate investment and there are multiple dividends that are associated with DRR. This paper argues that there is a need for a new policy framing that DRR investment is imperative that will generate dividends for governments and society at large. Under the au...

Artikel ini meneropong respon masyarakat sipil atas ‘normal baru’ yang kemudian di revisi sebagai ‘adaptasi kebiasaan baru’ yang digagas pemerintah Indonesia sebagai jalan tengah yang diyakini dapat menyelamatkan dua hal secara bersamaan: ekonomi dan nyawa rakyat sekaligus dari ancaman COVID-19. Konon, dikotomi ekonomi dan nyawah manusia, tidak per...

Disaster scholars and practitioners have argued that disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a legitimate investment and there are multiple dividends that are associated with DRR. This paper argues that there is a need for a new policy framing that DRR investment is imperative that will generate dividends for governments and society at large. Under the au...

Purpose The objective of this scoping review was to identify and describe the international scientific literature and published post-disaster needs assessments (PDNAs), on post-disaster provision of healthcare services for sexual and reproductive health. Methodology A systematic search was conducted to identify potential source documents, which we...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) it as a pandemic on March 11th, 2020. The pandemic has brought havoc globally as more than 190 countries and territories are affected as of 30 April 2030. The crisis suggests that no country can deal with the pandemic alone. International cooperation including regi...

Scholars and policy-makers agree that cross-border and multi-sector cooperation are essential components of coordinated efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 infections. This paper examines the responses of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) member countries to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the limits of regional cooperation. ASEA...

Climate change-related natural hazards severely affect farmers' livelihoods. This study explores how farmers in the vulnerable western lowlands of Nepal are affected by floods, heatwaves, and cold spells, how they adapt, and the factors influencing their risk perception and intended adaptation behaviour. Data were collected through a survey of 350...

The rise of populism around the world – such as in the United States, Brazil and Indonesia – has partly contributed to the global failure to adequately respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and has led the world into a recession faster than anticipated. By April 8, the World Health Organisation reported more than 1.2 million confirmed cases and 72,000...

The world is presently under an emergency situation because of the COVID-19 global pandemic, caused by a novel coronavirus. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world and is predicted to be affected significantly over a longer time period. Our paper aims to provide detailed reporting and analyses of the present rapid responses to CO...

Livelihood transitions in most agricultural nations are conditioned by changes in both human and climate systems. In the Philippines, climate change related extreme weather events such as typhoons , floods, and droughts have detrimental impacts on crop production and have significantly affected the livelihoods of cash crop focused rural villages. A...

Global disaster risk governance frameworks as well as recent urban climate governance models often suggest countries and local governments to create multi-stakeholder platforms through which the process of institutionalizing risk reduction and adaptation actions can be catalyzed and accelerated. Using exploratory research design and longitudinal ob...

Farmers in Nepal face many risks from extreme weather events which detrimentally impact their crop production. To support farmers in risk management, prevent financial losses, and facilitate farmer participation in insurance schemes, the Nepalese government subsidises crop insurance by paying 75% of the premiums. However, the uptake of insurance sc...

All food systems will continue to be affected by disasters and extreme climate events. Triggered by recent food crises around the world and climate change concerns, some governments have been trying to develop more robust and resilient food systems. One of the oldest options for many governments is to stockpile emergency food reserves for the purpo...

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) arrangement can be seen as an ecosystem that is jointly governed by stakeholders ranging from governments, non-governmental organisations, civil society and faith-based groups, scientific bodies, research institutes and universities, the private sector and local communities. This paper investigates DRR ecosystem in the...

Achieving food security while mitigating of climate change could have conflicting goals at least in short timeframe. Food production and consumption directly emit CO2. The increase of anthropogenic CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has unequivocally altered global climate change. Without significant efforts in stabilizing global carbon in all sec...

The collaborative disaster risk governance framework promises better collaboration between governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, and communities at risks. In the context of modern disaster risk reduction systems, the key triadic institutions, namely government (state), the private sector (business/market), and NGOs (civil societ...

We conducted a systematic literature review to document the scientific knowledge about climate change impacts and adaptation in livestock systems, and to identify research gaps. The analysis was built from the premise that livestock offers substantial opportunities for food security and sustainable development if adaptation to climate change is app...

Academics and practitioners often argued indirectly that all the roads to community resilience should be paved with community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) approach. Community-based approach to resilience building has been a discursive material that appeals many disaster management players including international donors, non- governmental o...

Climate variability and change will increasingly harm crop and livestock systems worldwide. Evidence of climate change impacts are largely documented for crops with much less information for livestock. In this study we assessed smallholders’ risk perceptions of climate change impacts on water buffalo production systems in Nueva Ecija, Philippines....

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of exogenous drivers that seeks to foster endogenous resilience and climate adaptation policy and practice in developing countries. It particularly examines the role of Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network as an exogenous driver that sought to sustain urban climate adaptation and...

Shall all the roads to community resilience be paved with community-based disaster risk reduction (CBDRR) approach? CBDRR has been a concept that appeals most international donors, non-governmental organisations, and high level government officials as well as politicians. Some researchers argue that CBDRR is the foundation of disaster risk governan...

Background Modelling travel time to services has become a common public health tool for planning service provision but the usefulness of these analyses is constrained by the availability of accurate input data and limitations inherent in the assumptions and parameterisation. This is particularly an issue in the developing world where access to basi...

The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), held a policy discussion on the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) – Implications for the Asia-Pacific in Jakarta on Monday 14 November 2016. The policy discussion brought together some 40 experts,...

Human consumption of fish has been trending upwards in the past decades and this is projected to continue. The main sources of fish are from wild fisheries (marine and freshwater) and aquaculture. Climate change is anticipated to affect the availability of fish through its effect on these two sources as well as on supply chain processes such as sto...

http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TNJUDP9WaEvZN8QPkkhx/full Please go to the link for full text access. There is an increase in risks and catastrophic losses in maritime transport including ports and cargo. Significant losses have been associated with large scale natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunami, cyclones, and other extreme weather e...

This NTS Insight attempts to create a baseline assessment of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adap- tation (CCA) policies in ten Southeast Asian countries. More than 50 per cent of global disaster mortality occurred in Southeast Asia between 2004 and 2014, and four ASEAN member states are ranked in the top 10 countries most affect-...

Being vulnerable to the forces of nature is entirely social and political economic decisions. This article provides an overview of 40 years of critical disaster studies and why critical approach to understanding disasters can save lives.

Climate change alters global food systems, especially agriculture and fisheries—significant aspects of the livelihoods and food security of populations. The 2014 IPCC Fifth Assessment Report identified Southeast Asia as the most vulnerable coastal region in the world, and highlighted the potential distribution of impacts and risks of climate change...

This report presents findings from a review of USAID/Indonesia-funded Vulnerability Assessments (VAs), which were designed to inform adaptation activities in USAID’s main environment sectorial programs (marine, forestry, water/sanitation, and disaster risk reduction [DRR]) between 2010 and 2013. The review was carried out by the E3 Analytics and Ev...

Long a recipient of international assistance during ‘natural’ disasters, Indonesia has been recently stepping up its joint civil-military humanitarian responses in the Asia Pacific. What does this mean for Indonesia and the world disaster response?

Millions of people are at risk of hunger, starvation and diseases as a result of the onset of the unusually strong El-Nino since 2015 till now. But efforts in disaster risk preparedness and climate change adaptation have been haphazard. There is urgency for action to avert more catastrophic consequences of new climate patterns.

Most of the benefits of public stockpiling are short-term. They can be extremely useful stop-gap measures in ensuring food economy stability and are thus a useful buffer to have in a government’s arsenal of food security policies. There are however numerous negative (both real and potential) implications to pursuing policies of public stockpiling....

A big earthquake hit the ocean floor off Southwestern Sumatra, Indonesia on 2 March 2016. Tsunami warnings were issued by the government to the whole Sumatran regions. How effective are Indonesia’s tsunami warning systems today?

WHO has declared the Zika outbreak as a global public health emergency. While uncertainty on the linkage between Zika and microcephaly remains, it is time to understand the potential formation of future epidemics under climate change and how governance plays an important role.

This report provides a brief overview of projected rice security indicated by future potential yield under elevated carbon dioxide levels. The study finds that the impact of climate change on rice will be more negative than positive. Heat stress of rice crops and extreme weather events, such as floods and drought, may threaten food security. A lack...

Policy Brief, May 2015. S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University

Policy Brief, May 2015. S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University Singapore.

The current Southeast Asian haze problem is not a function of the lack of commitment on the part of President Jokowi's government. The ineffectiveness of forest fire prevention and response lies deeper in the complex disaster governance landscape in Indonesia.

This research aims to understand the organizational network typology of large--scale disaster intervention in developing countries and to understand the complexity of post--disaster intervention, through the use of network theory based on empirical data from post--tsunami reconstruction in Aceh, Indonesia, during 2005/-2007. The findings suggest th...

This research aims to understand the organizational network typology of large­-scale disaster intervention in developing countries and to understand the complexity of post-­disaster intervention, through the use of network theory based on empirical data from post-­tsunami reconstruction in Aceh, Indonesia, during 2005/­2007. The findings suggest th...

In recent years there has been a number of climate change vulnerability assessments (CCVAs) conducted in cities across Indonesia. These have influenced the way that cities understand climate change, and the policies and approaches they adopt. But despite the number and variety of approaches of these assessments, there has been little research into...

This RSIS policy brief, based on intensive field studies in South and Southeast Asia and extensive literature review, aims to highlight some of the issues on stockpiling of food and offers some views on the policy implications of pursuing such a strategy

The Jokowi cabinet is planning to involve the country’s military in agriculture and food security affairs in order to achieve food sovereignty and 100 percent rice self-sufficiency. What would be the implications for the country’s long term food security?

The ICAFS in 2014 was held with the following objectives:To suggest recommendations that contribute towards enhancing food security at the national and regional levels, and identify clear policy directions and interventions to guide efforts towards food security.To provide concrete and actionable policy recommendations attuned to the new realities...

NGOs operate in networks ranging from local to national to international in scale. The shape, nature and strength of these networks will determine the future sustainability of the NGO sector in Indonesia. This brief uses social network analysis to investigate the nature of Indonesian NGO networks as an ecosystem and examine the characteristics of a...

In recent years there has been a number of climate change vulnerability assessments (CCVAs) conducted in cities across Indonesia. These have influenced the way that cities understand climate change, and the policies and approaches they adopt. But despite the number and variety of approaches of these assessments, there has been little research into...

The recent WTO agreement, finally concluded after the resolution of an impasse on food stockholding, has been hailed as a landmark for international trade. The deal however also holds great significance for global food security. However, some important concerns remain.

This paper describes how the city of Bandar Lampung began to incorporate climate change adaptation goals into its budget and some of its plans. A series of Shared Learning Dialogues supported by the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) involved staff from city government, NGOs and universities. This led to the formation of a mult...