Small businesses - impact of disasters and building resilience

This study focuses on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and their role in disaster risk reduction and, particularly, in recovery. So far, little has been studied in terms of the impact that disasters have on MSMEs, the time it takes them to recover (if at all), the indirect impact that their hardships have on the community, and the positive role that they could play on recovery leveraging the entire community.Through this study and its related three country case studies, UNDP explores the impact of disasters on MSMEs and the role that MSMEs can play in disaster risk reduction and recovery. The study looks at both success and challenges trying to draw some general conclusion as to: how MSMEs are impacted by disasters; what institutional, policy and market arrangements can make them more resilient; how MSMEs themselves can contribute to disaster risk reduction and, in particular, to restore development in a post-disaster situation.

The study targets policy makers as well as DRR practitioners and aims to increase knowledge and understanding of the link between disasters and MSMEs and of how they can act as agents of disaster risk reduction and recovery. In so doing, the study provides insights and policy advice on key pre-conditions and policies reinforcing MSMEs’ resilience and their role in recovery.