We partnered with GiveDirectly to design and develop flood triggers for targeted regions in Bangladesh and Nigeria. The flood triggers enabled GiveDirectly to implement cash transfer programmes, providing timely support to communities at risk of flooding.
Flooding poses significant challenges to communities in Bangladesh and Nigeria. Many residents face economic and logistical barriers to preparing for and recovering from floods, leaving them at heightened risk of disruption to their livelihoods and access to essential services. Traditional flood response models often focus on post-disaster assistance, addressing immediate needs but offering limited support for long-term resilience.
This project developed flood triggers that enable anticipatory action, allowing communities to take proactive measures before flooding occurs. By linking these triggers with cash transfer programmes, the approach provides targeted, timely support to help households prepare and recover effectively.
Development of the system involved the following key activities:
By implementing flood triggers, GiveDirectly has supported communities in Bangladesh and Nigeria to better prepare for and respond to flooding. This anticipatory action approach:
“Partnering with JBA was instrumental in delivering anticipatory cash in Nigeria and Bangladesh in 2024, guided by co-designed triggers informed by Google’s Floodhub tool. We are excited to continue this collaboration, scaling the reach and precision of anticipatory cash to better support those living on the frontlines of natural disasters.”
Federico Barreras, Humanitarian Manager at GiveDirectly
As a pilot study, the project has highlighted valuable insights for future refinement. JBA is now working with GiveDirectly to improve the system for upcoming flood seasons in Bangladesh. This includes enhancing trigger performance by incorporating additional local datasets and integrating into our flood impact forecasting system, Flood Foresight.
The pilot has also successfully demonstrated a robust and adaptable trigger mechanism for regions with limited data, providing a model for proactive disaster response in diverse and challenging contexts. The pilot offers a replicable model for efficiently implementing similar systems in other regions using Flood Foresight. By linking flood triggers with cash transfer programmes, communities can better prepare for flooding, protect their homes and livelihoods and build long-term resilience to climate risks.
This work benefited from our previous experience in developing models, trigger mechanisms and providing flood forecasting and calculation agent services around anticipatory action, disaster risk financing and parametric insurance schemes.
To learn more about our work in anticipatory action and disaster resilience, contact our team.
Contact our team to learn more about this project.
