Cuba: Integrated drought management and early warning for food-system resilience

This case study was collected through a Call for Good Practices on Reducing Risk across SDG Transitions, launched by the UNDRR Focal Points Group in 2024.

SDGs addressed: 2 | 13 (cross-cutting links to 1, 4, 5, 6, 8)

Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Camagüey face increasingly frequent droughts that threaten crops and water supplies. WFP and UNDP, with national partners, launched a systems-thinking project to strengthen hydro-meteorological monitoring, communication and gender-inclusive capacity-building. Provincial Meteorological Centres and the Hydrological Service were automated; local bulletins now trigger farmer action plans that align with Cuba's Task Vida climate-adaptation strategy.

Innovation & Success Factors

• Three-in-one risk lens - meteorological, agricultural, hydrological data integrated in a single EWS.
• Outcome-driven training - 1 150 technicians & volunteer observers certified; 50 youth promoters trained.
• Gender campaign - "Rompe Esquemas" media spots challenged stereotypes and enlisted women as change agents.

Key impacts

• 114 211 direct beneficiaries better prepared for drought through upgraded services.
• 98 061 people in vulnerable areas receive clearer warnings via new info-flows.
• 15 000 producers use climate bulletins to adjust planting and irrigation.
• National procedures - new hydrological drought diagnosis, forecasting & response plan approved by Civil Defence.
• Automated network - groundwater & surface sensors transmit real-time data to provincial centres.

Lessons learned for replication or adaptation

1. Integrated hazard view motivates coordinated action across sectors.
2. Local ownership & gender parity anchor long-term commitment.
3. Clear information pathways turn science into farmer decisions.
4. Standardised national methods enable scale-up and policy uptake.
5. Youth engagement builds future stewardship of monitoring systems.

Other resources / Explore further

• Project PDF file
• Testimonial video

Organisations involved

• UN entities: WFP, UNDP
• Government ministries/agencies: MINCEX, CITMA, MINAG, INRH, Civil Defence, National Bureau of Statistics & Information
• Academia & civil society: Faculty of Social Communication - University of Havana; Cuban Women's Federation (FMC)
• Community beneficiaries: Producers & promoters in six municipalities