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STORY: FAO / EL NIÑO ANTICIPATORY ACTION
TRT: 3:20
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
DATELINE: 10 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY / RECENT
AUGUST 2023, KAVANGO EAST REGION, NAMIBIA
1. Drone shot, drought-impacted region in northeast Namibia during the 2023-2024 El Niño event
2. Drone shot, cattle in drought-impacted region in northeast Namibia during the 2023-2024 El Niño event
1 FEBRUARY 2024, ANJAHAMAHAVELO, ANOSY REGION, MADAGASCAR
3. Drone shot, drought-impacted region in southern Madagascar
4. Med shot, maize plants impacted by drought
16 OCTOBER 2023, BELEDWEYNE, SOMALIA
5. Drone shot, FAO-led project of riverbank reparation before El Niño-induced floods
6. Drone shot, FAO-led project of riverbank reparation before El Niño-induced floods
7. Wide shot, truck unloading stones for riverbank reparation as part of FAO anticipatory actions to El Niño floods.
8. Wide shot, workers repairing riverbanks before expected El Niño floods
APRIL 2023, CHOLUTECA, HONDURAS
9. Drone shot, dry riverbank in the Dry Corridor in Honduras
SEPTEMBER 2023, CHOLUTECA, HONDURAS
10. Tilt down, FAO technicians showing farmers how to build ferrocement water harvesters
11. Wide shot, farmers rolling iron wires used in ferrocement water harvesters
construction
12. Pan left, construction of a ferrocement water harvester
13. Wide shot, FAO beneficiary by his ferrocement water harvester
10 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
14. Wide shot, FAO headquarters in Rome
15. Wide shot, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer Dunja Dujanovic in FAO headquarters
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Dunja Dujanovic, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer:
“The evidence that we have is that anticipatory actions, including the ones implemented for this El Niño, are very beneficial in terms of protecting food security, safeguarding food production and staple crop production, in some cases allowing the population to increase crop production, which was fundamental for creating a stock to last through the shock impact. In other cases, [anticipatory actions] which have been able to even reduce mortality amongst the population from these shock impacts and, in general, safeguard food security, including protecting livestock and animal health.”
1 FEBRUARY 2024, ANJAHAMAHAVELO, ANOSY REGION, MADAGASCAR
17. Wide shot, FAO beneficiaries being trained on agriculture in drought conditions
18. Wide shot, FAO beneficiaries working on land
JULY-AUGUST 2023, CHOLUTECA, HONDURAS
19. Med shot and pan down, livestock producer feeding her cows
20. Med shot, cows eating fodder
MARCH-APRIL 2024, ISABELA PROVINCE, PHILIPPINES
21. Tilt down, maize farm impacted by El Niño-induced drought
22. Zoom in, cracked land by El Niño-induced drought
10 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Dunja Dujanovic, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer:
“We have science that allows us to see into the future and to understand where and how these events are going to be impacting populations, and so what we must do is now, and FAO is already planning, looking forward and planning, putting in place measures, so that we ensure we can see those impacts before they occur and put in place anticipatory measures to protect agricultural livelihoods against these impacts and safeguard food security.”
6 MARCH 2024, DOLOW, GEDO, SOMALIA
24. Drone shot, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Dolow, Somalia
25. Wide shot, woman serves tea at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Dolow, Somalia
26. Wide shot, children drinking tea at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Dolow, Somalia
10 MAY 2024, ROME, ITALY
27. SOUNDBITE (English) Dunja Dujanovic, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer:
“La Niña impacts are the opposite of El Niño impacts, and this, in some instances, may also be beneficial, so in regions which are currently experiencing drought and dry spells such as Southern Africa and the Dry Corridor of Central America, for example, the Philippines, we may see increased rainfall which can be of course beneficial for crop growth and agriculture. At the same time, what we fear is an excess of rainfall and flooding, which is going to impact already very vulnerable populations that don't necessarily have the means to protect themselves.”
AUGUST 2023, KAVANGO EAST REGION, NAMIBIA
28. Drone shot, farms located in northeast Namibia impacted by El Niño-induced drought
29. Wide shot, female farmer collecting production in his garden located northeast Namibia impacted by El Niño-induced drought
The anticipatory actions put in place over the last two years by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to mitigate the extreme weather events caused by El Niño in 23 countries have protected the food security and livelihoods of over 1.6 million people.
Declared in July 2023 and projected to last until mid-2024, the current El Niño event is one of the five strongest on record and its climate extremes have affected from 40 to 50 million people worldwide, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific, and Southern and Eastern Africa.
Using modelling based on previous El Niño-driven weather patterns, FAO acted swiftly to mitigate its effects in 2023-2024, launching together with governments and partners anticipatory actions in countries at risk.
Examples of measures on the ground include timely distribution of drought-tolerant seeds and the construction of ferrocement water harvesters in the Dry Corridor in Central America; repairing riverbank breakage points in Somalia to protect 40.000 hectares of cropland from expected floods; and leveraging social protection programs to aid vulnerable farmers with cash support ahead of drought in the Philippines.
These interventions were “very beneficial” for vulnerable populations exposed to El Niño-induced extreme weather events, said Dunja Dujanovic, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer.
SOUNDBITE (English), Dunja Dujanovic, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer:
“The evidence that we have is that anticipatory actions, including the ones implemented for this El Niño, are very beneficial in terms of protecting food security, safeguarding food production and staple crop production, in some cases allowing the population to increase crop production, which was fundamental for creating a stock to last through the shock impact. In other cases, [anticipatory actions] which have been able to even reduce mortality amongst the population from these shock impacts and, in general, safeguard food security, including protecting livestock and animal health.”
FAO assessments show that anticipatory actions are a cost-effective way to protect populations from shocks. Every USD1 invested in anticipatory action can create a return for farming families of more than USD 7 in avoided losses and added benefits.
Dujanovic highlighted that the success of FAO’s anticipatory actions during this El Niño event was still not at sufficient scale to avert the full scale of the crisis, and that such actions should be urgently replicated and significantly scaled up when early warning and forecasts show that vulnerable populations are exposed to weather and climatic shocks.
SOUNDBITE (English), Dunja Dujanovic, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer:
“We have science that allows us to see into the future and to understand where and how these events are going to be impacting populations, and so what we must do is now, and FAO is already planning, looking forward and planning, putting in place measures, so that we ensure we can see those impacts before they occur and put in place anticipatory measures to protect agricultural livelihoods against these impacts and safeguard food security.”
With El Niño now weakening, another seasonal climatic phenomenon causing extreme weather events (La Niña) could further exacerbate food insecurity.
La Niña impacts are expected to be noticeable in some regions in the second half of 2024, said Dujanovic, urging to take actions to better anticipate, mitigate and be prepared to respond accordingly.
SOUNDBITE (English), Dunja Dujanovic, FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation officer:
“La Niña impacts are the opposite of El Niño impacts, and this, in some instances, may also be beneficial, so in regions which are currently experiencing drought and dry spells such as Southern Africa and the Dry Corridor of Central America, for example, the Philippines, we may see increased rainfall which can be of course beneficial for crop growth and agriculture. At the same time, what we fear is an excess of rainfall and flooding, which is going to impact already very vulnerable populations that don't necessarily have the means to protect themselves.”
Dujanovic said that communities affected by extreme weather events, including those caused by climate change, are often populations already affected by multiple crises driving high levels of acute food insecurity.
She recalled that, in many cases, those who are already vulnerable are most at risk at losing their livelihood, so anticipatory action is crucial to mitigate the risk of impact of such shocks on these frontline communities.
