Overview

Anticipation is essential to make the transition from responding to disaster to preventing it in order to ensure effective humanitarian assistance

Innovative early warning systems are essential for identifying risks and enabling prompt proactive action to mitigate the effects of disasters. By utilizing risk information systems, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has created cutting-edge early warning systems that enable it to act faster and avert acute hunger.

The severity of hazard-related effects is increasing, particularly for local communities in nations that have been continuously affected by climate-related hazards, as in the case of drought impacts in Madagascar.

Successive and recurrent droughts have caused the loss of agricultural and pastoral productions as well as assets for the majority of local communities in the Grand Sud of Madagascar. This is particularly concerning because more than 90 percent of the people in the affected areas rely on agricultural production to meet their year-round needs by converting and storing production through simple drying as well as to generate income.

In a bit to assist communities to build up their resilience and promote self-reliance, an innovative community early warning cell phone application was developed and is used to facilitate community-led anticipatory action. The app was developed with the technical support from FAO through the Early Warning Anticipatory Action Approach financially supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Pro-Acting project financed by European Union in Madagascar.

This Early Warning Anticipatory Action (EWAA) app was developed to share hazard and risk information to each committee in 35 pilots sites at Fokontany level in six districts of Androy, Anosy and Farafangana Regions.

Risk information provided on the app includes 10 days forecast on precipitation, temperature and wind, three months and six months forecast on rainfall anomalies and drought information and other risk information such as locust or pest situation in the districts.

The application includes a risk monitoring and anticipatory actions tabs where communities can inform FAO of the community-led anticipatory actions to be undertaken and if there is any need for external support to undertake the actions. This also helps humanitarian and development sectors to better plan based on informed/context specific needs in terms of anticipatory actions from the committee members’ feedbacks.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations