Perception of weather and seasonal drought forecasts and its impact on livelihood in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018 to assess the perception of households on drought forecasts and its impact on crop and livestock losses. A total of 300 households from seven districts in East Nusa Tenggara Indonesia were considered. The study indicated that the majority of the households are poor families with low education background. They sold poultry for income generation during drought events. The survey revealed that only small percentage of the households usied forecast to support their livelihood management. The statistical test confirmed that the use of forecast did not necessarily impacted the crop loss. However, the crops were significantly affected by the response to drought forecast. Households that changed their agricultural practice experienced significantly different losses than households that did not do anything differently to their crops. The households argued that the accuracy of the forecasts issued by the government was very low. Therefore, it is recommended that policymakers and government authorities provide more accurate forecasts and a better strategy to increase household awareness of using drought forecasts.