The ‘triple dividend’ of early warning systems. Evidence from Tanzania’s coastal areas

Early warning systems (EWSs) have been effective in reducing loss of life and injury associated with extreme weather events, but it is less clear what influence they have on other household decisions. Some research has identified increased productivity in rainfed farming from using weather and climate information, but much less is known about fishing communities, where livelihoods also depend heavily on the weather.

This paper begins to fill this gap by examining the range of socio-economic benefits associated with improvements in EWSs in coastal areas of Tanzania, including for fishing communities and the marine sector. It uses the Triple Dividend of Resilience (TDR) framework, developed by ODI, the World Bank and the London School of Economics, to capture the direct, indirect and co-benefits of investments in disaster risk reduction.