Framing the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption from a farming-disaster perspective

The aim of this paper was to shed light on the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in Iceland from a farming perspective to identify lessons for livelihood professions regarding disasters. Scientists had detected activity under the volcano for over a decade prior to the eruption and had notified the Civil Protection. Preparedness activities included disaster planning and training in evacuation procedures in the event of flooding caused by an eruption under the Eyjafjallajökull icecap. However, the main concern for farmers turned out to be ashfall. Previous research has shown that specialized information to farmers on ashfall was inadequate. Here, information is presented from a livelihood-disaster perspective and used as a basis for an analysis of pre-eruption, real-time and post-eruption activities by farming actors. The livelihood-disaster perspective is built on the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and a set of eight disaster-related objectives. The study shows that farming actors were not informed about the scientific monitoring, not included in pre-eruption coordination by the Civil Protection but were indeed the main actors responding to the needs of farmers having ash problems in the weeks and months following the eruption. A literature survey shows that sufficient hazard, exposure and vulnerability information had been available prior to the eruption to produce useful risk-related information to inform risk reduction and contingency planning amongst farming actors. Livelihood professionals are highly specialized and should take the initiative in performing their own pre-disaster activities to effectively and efficiently assist their communities during a disaster. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015