Seeing the difference anticipatory action makes: a field perspective from Nigeria

When floods threatened communities along the Benue River in Nigeria in 2025, anticipatory action allowed families to prepare before the waters rose and protect their homes, their health and their dignity. This article tells the story of Amina and her husband Halidu, whose lives were changed through the support that arrived before the flood struck. Their experiences, recounted here by Oluwashina Oni, demonstrate how anticipatory action enables people not just to survive floods, but to withstand them with resilience and pride.

In early September 2025, as forecasts signalled a possible major flood along the Benue River, I was deployed to Adamawa State to support the World Food Programme’s [WFP] anticipatory action activation, financed by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Once the plan was triggered, WFP distributed anticipatory cash transfers to over 73,000 people in 72 hours, reaching an additional 10,000 in the following days – all before the flooding began.  

Working alongside WFP colleagues, I was tasked with documenting the impacts of this anticipatory cash assistance. I gathered stories, photos and videos from families affected by the floods.

One story stayed with me.

In Yole, I met Amina, whose house is always the first to flood when the Benue River swells. She told me how the smell of turned earth signals the water’s arrival at night. Her home bears the scars of past storms: a sinking floor, a battered fence and a constant threat to her family’s safety.

Her husband, Halidu, has lived with a disability since suffering a stroke five years ago. When floods come, neighbours [have to] carry him through the doorway, as the yard turns into a canal.

But this year was different.

Before the rains, Amina received 208,000 naira [around 147 US dollars/124 euros] in anticipatory cash from WFP, triggered by flood forecasts. She used it to build a concrete ramp so that Halidu could exit independently, [as well as] patching up the fence, grading the yard and reinforcing the latrine to protect her children from post-flood diseases.

When the floods came, the ramp held. The fence resisted. The latrine stayed intact. And Halidu moved on his own.

“Receiving the money before the flood kept my dignity,” Amina told me. “I did not have to ask anyone to help my husband outside.”

That moment changed how I see my role. Through Amina’s story, and thousands like hers, I saw how storytelling can explain the logic behind anticipatory action and [demonstrate how it] preserve people’s dignity; it shows that the next [flooding] season may still be hard – but not the same kind of hard.

Across all the various field operations that I’ve supported, I have seen how strong information management and storytelling enhance anticipatory action. They improve coordination, support early triggers and make visible the impacts of acting before disaster strikes.

If there’s one message I’d share with fellow humanitarians, it’s this: every role counts. Whether you’re in the field, behind a dashboard, or crafting a story, timely information and strong coordination shape responses and bring visibility to those we serve. I’ve learned that storytelling, data and connectivity are powerful tools for impact. When we stay curious and work together, we amplify the difference we make.