SFER/GLO/005/MUL Early Action window: FAO's Early Warning Early Action uses risk analysis and forecasts to trigger interventions before a crisis escalates into a humanitarian emergency.

05 May 2018, Mongolia - In the last two years alone, the FAO Mongolia Country Office has implemented four emergency programmes in response to severe dzudsto try to mitigate the devastating impact on the poorest herders. FAO has brought deep understanding of the country to the interventions as well as experience of livestock programmes and hands-on skills in implementation. FAO's relationship with the Government of Mongolia – which goes back to 1973 – is thriving, with the shared aim of bringing practical support and hope to some of the most vulnerable Mongolians. The life of a livestock herder defies the challenges bought by Mongolia's climate – summers are very hot and dry and winters bitterly cold. But over the past two decades, climate change has made what's known as a dzud more severe and more frequent. When the warning signs of an upcoming dzud in 2017/8 were clear, FAO acted quickly. The project's approach was twofold: destocking-for-cash and the distribution of livestock packages. Meat from this was also distributed to vulnerable households living on the edge of Ulaanbaatar. The overall cost of the Early Warning Early Action intervention came to USD 285 for each household involved. In return, each one benefitted by USD 2 008, which gives a 7.1 benefit to cost ratio.