Before the Harvest Fails: New FAO Video Shows How Drought Data Can Drive Earlier Action
Girls for Climate Action Lin partnership with FAO launches a new explainer video introducing d-iap, a global platform helping communities and decision-makers anticipate drought’s impact on agriculture.
10 August 2026
A seed is planted. Time passes. Rain is expected.
But what happens when the rain does not come or arrives too late?
For millions of people whose food, income and livelihoods depend on agriculture, drought is not a distant environmental concern. It can mean reduced harvests, lost income, greater food insecurity and difficult decisions about water.
Girls for Climate Action has launched a new three-minute explainer video introducing the Drought Impact Assessment Platform, known as d-iap, a FAO developed platform. The video explores how timely information can help farmers, agricultural practitioners, water managers and governments understand drought risks and act before harvests fail.
Evidence and practices have shown that Drought responses often begin after crops have already been damaged and livelihoods are under pressure. d-iap offers another possibility: using data to anticipate potential impacts and support earlier planning.
Developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, d-iap is a global web-based tool that assesses how drought may affect crop yields, water productivity and irrigation requirements under present and future climate conditions.
The platform provides information for up to 16 crops and covers both rainfed and irrigated agricultural systems. Users can explore the likelihood of different levels of crop-yield reduction, potential income losses and the amount of irrigation water that may be required to reduce drought impacts.
It translates complex climate and agricultural data into information that can support practical decisions.
Why this matters now
The launch comes one week before UNCCD COP17, which will take place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 17 to 28 August 2026 under the theme “Restoring Land. Restoring Hope.”
The conference will bring governments, scientists, young people, Indigenous Peoples, pastoralists, civil society organizations and smallholder farmers together to advance action on drought, land degradation and desertification.
As world leaders prepare for these discussions, d-iap demonstrates what earlier and more informed drought action can look like.
Knowing that drought is coming is important. Understanding what it could mean for a particular crop, location or water system makes that knowledge more useful.
Data must reach the people who need it, which means Digital tools alone cannot solve the unequal effects of drought. Access to technology, connectivity, climate information, finance and decision-making power remains uneven particularly for women, girls and smallholder farmers.
That is why climate information must be accessible, understandable and connected to the lived realities of communities.
For Girls for Climate Action, introducing d-iap is part of a wider commitment to climate education and justice. Young women and girls must not only be recognized as people affected by climate change; they must also be equipped and supported as leaders, communicators and decision-makers.
Whether you work in agriculture, climate action, water management, research, policy or community development, this video offers a starting point for understanding how drought data can support stronger and more resilient food systems.
Watch the video and share it with your community. When knowledge reaches the people who need it, earlier action becomes possible.
Follow the drought. Understand the risk. Act before the harvest fails.
#FollowTheDrought #DLDD #Drought #RestoringLand #COP17 #FAO