Small Businesses: Impact of Disasters and Building Resilience Synthesis Report-Case Studies from Japan, Mexico and India

In 2012, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) undertook a global study analysing the vulnerability of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to natural hazards and their capacity to act as drivers of community recovery. In order to inform the study, UNDP commissioned three case studies on the impact of disasters on MSMEs in Japan, Mexico and India to examine the recovery policies and measures undertaken to revive a sector that has a vital economic and social role to play in each of the countries.The objective was to make available the documentation that would help policy makers and other stakeholders conceptualize and implement appropriate recovery and disaster-preparedness measures to increase the resilience of MSMEs and, by extension, of the economy and the community. As a matter of fact, currently there are few such studies on this subject.

Each of the country studies looks at the impact of specific disasters on MSMEs. The Japan study dwells on the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) in the north-eastern Tohoku region, described as the most devastating disaster in Japan’s modern history.The Mexico study focuses on the aftermath of severe floods in the two southern states of Tabasco (2007) and Chiapas (2010), which are frequently prone to storm-related events due to which MSMEs have incurred severe damage and loss in recent years. The India study draws lessons from the impact of the 2011 floods on MSMEs in the Odisha state,which is prone to cyclones and floods owing to its large coastline.