Risk is the potential interplay of a natural hazard, exposed elements in the respective area, and the vulnerability of these elements. We provide a general conceptualisation of risk against the background of globally increasing hazard events and, at the same time, increasing numbers of exposed and vulnerable elements resulting from population and economic growth as well as environmental degradation and exploitation of resources. We discuss general strategies for risk management and provide an overview of the situation in southern Africa, based on the field studies described in this chapter.