Zimbabwe Red Cross: Drought Early Action Protocol in Binga

The Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) built a Drought Early Action Protocol with communities, ministries, the Danish and Finnish Red Cross and the Climate Centre, using a two-stage trigger based on El Nino and FEWS NET food-security forecasts. In September 2023 it activated, with CHF 366,878 released from the IFRC's anticipatory pillar for 21,000 people in five wards of Binga District, starting October 2023 for 12 months. First-stage actions were early warnings in local languages, drought-tolerant seed and livestock vaccination; a second stage could add cash and vouchers and school feeding. The ZRCS site lists early action protocols for drought and cholera among its programmes.