Forecast-based Financing (FbF): Anticipatory actions for food security
To support countries in the mitigation and management of climate risks, the World Food Programme (WFP) is implementing innovative programme approaches to reduce losses and damages in the livelihoods of people who are faced with increasing climate extremes. The approach that has the biggest potential of closing the humanitarian funding gap is Forecast-based Financing (FbF).
FbF enables anticipatory actions for disaster mitigation at the community and government level using credible seasonal and weather forecasts. These forecasts are linked to predetermined contingency plans, actors and funding instruments which are used to reduce the humanitarian caseload in the critical window between a forecast and an extreme weather event. This mechanism is changing the way the humanitarian system responds to climate-related disasters: it complements the existing readiness of humanitarian actors to respond to humanitarian needs with an anticipatory system to reduce the scale of these needs before they materialize.
This publication uses country examples from Latin America, Asia and Africa to demonstrate how WFP has implemented FbF for flood and drought risk management. It also explores Fbf sustainability and integration with other disaster risk financing tools.