Early warning early action: mechanisms for rapid decision making

The crisis in the Horn of Africa and the declaration of famine conditions in parts of Somalia in 2011 provided renewed impetus to break, once and for all, the cycle of food insecurity in the region. Governments as well as regional and international actors all called for transformative action to ensure that the next drought does not turn into another humanitarian crisis. One major impact has been the shift towards risk management, at policy and operational levels. The growing emphasis on recognising and managing the risk of drought, rather than waiting for it to affect vulnerable communities, implies substantive change across the system.