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Drought has the potential to cause or worsen other disasters. Some effects on poverty, gender, conflict and power generation are outlined below.
====Poverty and food insecurity====
[[Image:india-poverty-drought.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Crops are ruined by floods or drought, causing poverty. Photo: [http://www.backpacking-tips-asia.com/india-poverty.html Backpacking Tips Asia.]]]
Drought causes decreased agricultural productivity. Increased temperatures cause increased water demand for crops, which may be less available. Recent research into the effects of climate change indicates that even if basic adaptive measures are taken, global agricultural production will decline 3% by 2080 due to increased temperatures. In Kenya, the 1998 – 2000 droughts caused a 15% reduction in agricultural production (5% of which was livestock).
* [http://www.backpacking-tips-asia.com/india-poverty.html India poverty].
* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fao.org%2Fcrisis%2F28402-0f9dad42f33c6ad6ebda108ddc1009adf.pdf&ei=tHvNT966FsWi2gWo-e2PAw&usg=AFQjCNGqdHl88ZLD4L_HKf5NDoI2mPJDhQ&sig2=PO8bza5-J_GBaTRxIANnTg Drought‐related food insecurity: A focus on the Horn of Africa.] FAO, 2011.
Drought negatively impacts well-being of women and girls who will spend more time collecting firewood, collecting water from increasingly distant sources, attending to sick family members and cultivating land (most agricultural activities undertaken by women).
* [http://endwaterpoverty.blogspot.com/2010/09/georgina-rannard-from-end-water-poverty.html Addressing two critical MDGs together: gender in water, sanitation and hygiene initiatives.]
* [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CFoQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gendercc.net%2Ffileadmin%2Finhalte%2FDokumente%2FUNFCCC_conferences%2FRoad_to_COP15%2FZAHUR-gendercc-2009-06-09.pdf&ei=_3_NT4O4D6eQ2QX2_Ij0DQ&usg=AFQjCNFPdx34775wM0JWYiEutFn-o-brLg&sig2=Lu-YWHK2ROupc45T-rYISw Climate Change (CC), Migration and Gender: Reflections from Balochistan, Pakistan Drought (1998 to 2002).]
Drought can increase conflict. Although complex to link as cause and effect, in some areas (e.g. Darfur) drought has resulted in differing interpretations of rights to access water and land among nomadic and sedentary groups, contributing to the escalation of ethnic tensions.
* [http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/oforiaa/ Water Wars and International Conflict.]
* [http://www.worldwater.org/conflict.html Water conflict chronology.] Worldwater.org.
Drought impacts power generation, industrial production and investment. In Kenya, 26% of all the economic losses during the 1998 – 2000 drought was due to reduction in hydropower generation, while 58% was due to reduction in industrial production, which was the largest sector affected.
* [http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2009/world/dry-spell-weakens-kenyas-hydropower/ Dry Spell Weakens Kenya’s Hydropower.]
*[http://finesse-africa.org/newsletter/200604/hp_africa.php Scaling up access to energy agenda: Decentralized small hydropower schemes in sub Sahara Africa.]