- Conduct a comprehensive food crisis analysis.
- Design anticipatory action and a large-scale response.
- Link the response to national systems and coordinate.
1Food crisis analysis
A comprehensive analysis cross-references several sources: household assessments, price and market monitoring, agricultural and pastoral data (rainfall, harvests, pasture conditions), nutrition, mortality, security and access. Livelihood profiles (HEA approach) help predict which groups will be affected and when.
It is shared within the IPC or Cadre Harmonisé technical working group and leads to projections. An NGO contributes its data and field knowledge, clearly stating their limitations.
2Anticipatory action
Acting before the peak of a foreseeable crisis costs less and protects better: transfers before the lean season, livestock destocking before animals lose condition, short-cycle seeds. Anticipatory action relies on triggers agreed in advance (rainfall, price or IPC projection thresholds), ready plans and pre-arranged financing.
Mechanisms exist: United Nations emergency funds, donors' anticipatory financing, climate insurance. The hardest part is often the decision: a plan with clear triggers avoids delays.
3Large-scale response and national systems
At scale, efficiency comes from common systems: beneficiary registration and deduplication, digital payments, shared price monitoring, harmonised transfer values. Shock-responsive social protection uses an existing national programme to assist more households (horizontal expansion) or increase transfer values (vertical expansion).
Data protection is essential: data-sharing agreements, minimisation, list security, informed consent of beneficiaries.
4Coordination, accountability and exit
The cluster sets geographic priorities, baskets, transfer values and common indicators; it tracks gaps and leads advocacy. Accountability is measured: rate of complaints resolved, satisfaction, women's participation in committees.
Every response plans its exit strategy: handover to safety nets, recovery of livelihoods, gradual phase-down. A poorly prepared exit pushes households back into crisis strategies.
Exercise: an anticipatory action plan
For a pastoral area exposed to drought, define three triggers (rainfall, prices, animal condition), the associated actions, their timing, estimated cost, funding source and monitoring indicators. One page maximum.
Key points
- Cross-referenced analysis: households, markets, agriculture and livestock, nutrition, access.
- Anticipatory action: triggers, ready plans, pre-arranged financing.
- At scale: deduplication, digital payments, harmonised transfer values.
- Shock-responsive social protection: horizontal or vertical expansion.
- Always an exit strategy.
Further reading: course references
- Sphere Association (2018). The Sphere Handbook: minimum standards in food security and nutrition. spherestandards.org/fr/manuel-2018
- IPC Global Partnership (2021). IPC Technical Manual, Version 3.1. www.ipcinfo.org
- World Food Programme (2021). Consolidated Approach for Reporting Indicators of Food Security (CARI). www.wfp.org/publications/consolidated-approach-reporting-indicators-food-security-cari-guidelines
- WFP and FAO (2024). Global Food Security Cluster. fscluster.org
- LEGS Project (2023). Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS). www.livestock-emergency.net
Daily quiz
3 questions to check what you have learned. Answer them all to complete the day.