Forecast-based Financing in Mali

Mali is among the countries in the world that is, and will be, most affected by climate change. One of the impacts of these changes in the climate is more frequent and strong natural hazard events, such as flooding and drought. To better manage these events, Forecast-based Financing has been identified as a key tool, as it will reduce human suffering and the cost of response. The first hazard to be addressed is riverine flooding for which an Early Action Protocol has been developed and validated by IFRC.

Project Objective

To avoid or limit the impact of predictable hazards in Mali through anticipatory action.

Anticipation in practice: Project description

Mali’s location in the Sahel zone means that it has a dry tropical climate, with high variability between dry and wet periods. Mali is therefore exposed to both drought and floods, as well as a range of other hazards such as strong winds, epidemics, locust invasions and since 2012 conflict. Historically, drought has been the most disastrous hazard in Mali, however in recent years flooding have become a still increasing hazard. This was clearly seen in 2018 where an all-time high of 137,000 people were affected by flooding country wide. The flooding led to people killed, destruction of houses and wells, and loss of livestock and crops.

Mali Red Cross (MRC) and its partners have worked on FbF since 2017. The work was launched during a national dialogue platform where more than 60 national and international organisations participated. During this platform MRC was designated to become the lead on anticipatory actions in Mali. On the back of this, MRC therefore appointed staff specifically dedicated to FbF and started a formal working group with government partners such as Civil Protection, Mali Météo and the National Direction for Hydrology. This work culminated in September 2020, when MRC’s EAP was validated by IFRC. The EAP addresses three impacts: 1) loss of life; 2) destruction of houses and public infrastructure; 3) emergence of waterborne diseases. These impacts will be addressed within the lead time of 4 days through a range of early actions such as evacuation, building of dikes with sandbags, distribution of water purification tablets and mosquito nets, and risk communication.

With the flood EAP in place, the idea is now to expand the coverage of FbF to also include a second hazard, while continuing to improve the existing EAP and further developing the capacity of the key actors. Therefore, the first steps are currently being taken to identify a second hazard and afterwards develop a new EAP for this hazard.