Examining concept of resilience after disaster, emergency in low-income countries

Writing in USAID's "IMPACTblog," David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, reflects on the concept of resilience, which he defines as one's "ability to cope and their systems for preparing, responding and rebuilding" after a natural disaster or emergency. "In the United States, these systems are already in place and, for the most part, function well," but "[t]his is not the case in many low-income countries," he writes. He continues, "With dramatic weather events and food price volatility only likely to continue and intensify due to climate change, the need to build resilience has never been greater" (12/4).