Anticipatory action in Southern Africa: a new model for managing climate risk

As the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events rise, more needs to be done to anticipate, mitigate and prevent their impact on the food security of the world’s most vulnerable people. As climate shocks have become increasingly prevalent, weather and seasonal forecasting, early warning system (EWS), vulnerability assessments, disaster preparedness and climate risk financing have been honed over the last decades. However, national disaster management authorities (NDMAs) and the wider humanitarian sector are still focused on responding to humanitarian disasters rather than acting in the critical window between a forecast and an extreme weather event.