Source: APO
Zimbabwe is making significant progress in shifting from reactive to proactive disaster risk management, with support from the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), FAO, IFRC and WFP. This week, over 50 stakeholders from government, UN agencies, NGOs, and communities gathered in Bulawayo to reflect on the achievements, challenges and lessons learned from the two-year ECHO-funded anticipatory action project.
Implemented between 2023 and 2025, the project aimed to enhance institutional systems and community capacities to prepare for and respond to climate-induced hazards, particularly in the wake of the 2023–2024 El Niño-induced drought, the worst in over four decades.
The project established harmonized multi-stakeholder frameworks, developed and tested impact-based forecasting triggers, and scaled up disaster risk financing analysis. These efforts contributed to more coordinated and timely early warning and anticipatory responses, helping protect lives, livelihoods, and food and nutrition security.
Judith Ncube, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Bulawayo, said the drought tested every system but also revealed the strength of partnerships.
“The 2023–2024 El Niño drought brought untold hardship to our communities. Yet in the face of empty rivers, cracked fields and hunger, we saw something extraordinary; communities, government and aid agencies standing together. This workshop is not just about what went wrong, but how ordinary people’s resilience helped shape extraordinary responses.”
The project’s key achievements include the establishment of the Anticipatory Action Community of Practice (CoP), a collaborative platform that has brought together government departments, humanitarian organizations and technical agencies to strengthen multi-sectoral coordination. Through this platform, Zimbabwe has institutionalized anticipatory action subcommittees at national, provincial and district levels, linking local decision-making to national systems.
Edward Kallon, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Zimbabwe, underscored the shift in how Zimbabwe prepares for shocks.
“Anticipatory action is not just a technical process; it is a lifeline. It is about the mother in Chiredzi who received early warnings and planted drought-tolerant crops just in time. It is about a child in Tsholotsho who did not go hungry because food assistance came before the crisis hit. This is the future of disaster response.”
At the peak of the drought crisis, the Government of Zimbabwe launched a US$3.3 billion appeal—US$2 billion for emergency response and US$1.3 billion for resilience-building. Supported by early warnings issued in mid-2023, the government swiftly rolled out a national Blitz Food Distribution Programme targeting the most vulnerable populations, including the elderly, people with disabilities, child-headed households and the chronically ill.
Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe emphasized the importance of UN support, stating that 33 percent of the funds raised came from UN agencies. This helped the government to institute a people-first approach in responding to the crisis.
“Behind the numbers are real people. The elderly, children in child-headed households, persons with disabilities—these were not forgotten. Through the Blitz Food Distribution Programme, Zimbabwe ensured food reached the most vulnerable. This is what human-centred disaster response looks like: swift, inclusive and built on compassion.”
Key outputs of the ECHO-funded project – such as the national Anticipatory Action Roadmap, flood simulation exercises (SIMEX), and impact forecasting models – are now serving as templates for broader disaster risk management in the region. Testimonies from farmers, community videos and field visits to Matobo and Beitbridge showcased the results at the local level.
The project also reinforced the importance of pre-arranged financing to enable faster response. “Pre-arranged financing is a game changer. It means help is not delayed by paperwork when disaster looms,” said Edward Kallon. “Zimbabwe’s anticipatory action frameworks, built around pre-agreed triggers and activities are delivering faster, smarter support.”
Patrice Talla, FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa, affirmed that Anticipatory Action is not merely a humanitarian tool, but a transformative model of governance. He highlighted how the recent ECHO-supported initiative in Zimbabwe laid critical foundations, such as hazard mapping, institutional roadmaps, and community-ready structures that enabled timely and life-saving interventions during the 2023–2024 El Niño drought.
Patrice Talla further emphasized that Zimbabwe’s approach is no longer a pilot, but a prototype for national systems, and called for its institutionalization through policy integration, pre-positioned finance, local capacity building, and cross-border coordination. “Forecasts, should no longer be warnings; they should be the first lines of defense,” he asserted.
As the learning event concluded, partners called for sustained investment in anticipatory action and a continued shift toward resilience-building. Participants emphasized that as climate risks intensify, early action must be integrated into national systems and financing structures to safeguard development gains.
“Let us act not only in response but in anticipation,” said Minister Daniel Garwe. “Because the future belongs to those who prepare for it.”
The ECHO-funded initiative has demonstrated that with the right partnerships, financing and community engagement, Zimbabwe can move from crisis response to long-term resilience.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Regional Office for Africa.
