Colombian Red Cross Triggers Drought Early Action Plan for 2,400 People in Tolima and Cesar

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) says the Colombian Red Cross has activated a pre-agreed drought plan in two departments, releasing money and supplies before the worst of the dry conditions arrive. According to the IFRC, the Early Action Protocol (EAP) for drought was approved in late 2024 and switched on in June 2026 at the first signs of drought, with activities focused on 2,400 people in Tolima, in the centre of the country, and Cesar, on the northern Caribbean coast.

The IFRC states that El Niño is intensifying in the region and that Colombia has historically seen prolonged droughts, severe water shortages and wildfires during the phenomenon. The organisation also notes that the Colombian government has declared a state of disaster in order to mobilise resources and coordinate national preparedness.

How the trigger works

The protocol is built on two triggers, the IFRC explains: one measuring precipitation deficits and one measuring rising temperatures. Both rely on official data produced by Colombia's Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM). Technical staff monitor the Standardised Precipitation Index continuously, tracking cumulative rainfall shortfalls, and cross-reference those readings against temperature anomaly records.

On the current outlook, the IFRC says Colombia's precipitation forecast points to a probability of more than 50% that rainfall will be below normal from June to August, and that the Standardised Precipitation Index forecast, based on moderate drought, shows values equal to or below -1.4 in August 2026.

"This deficit in precipitation leads to water stress and reduced access to water," said Marinson Buitrago Salinas, head of disaster response and emergency operations management at the Colombian Red Cross, in the IFRC article. "This would affect production, agriculture, livestock, and communities' access to water through aqueduct systems or the community-based systems they use to obtain water."

By combining climate data with population density and information on farming and livestock activity, the technical analysis identified Tolima and Cesar as the areas of greatest exposure and vulnerability, the IFRC says. Priority groups include small farming families, female-headed households and communities with limited access to basic services and social protection.

What the money buys

The operation is funded through the anticipatory action pillar of the IFRC Disaster Response Emergency Fund (IFRC-DREF), which the federation describes as a simplified model designed to release financing for crises that have not yet happened but whose impacts are highly predictable.

In Tolima, the IFRC reports that 600 people are receiving water-retention products that are worked into the soil to hold moisture around plant roots, allowing crops to survive longer on a fraction of the usual irrigation. Nutritional blocks are also being distributed for livestock to prevent animal deaths as pastures dry out.

A cash transfer programme aimed at people without bank accounts is designed to reach 900 people, according to the IFRC. Pre-arranged financial agreements allow families to collect funds by presenting identification, giving them the option to buy food, medicine and agricultural inputs locally before drought drives up prices.

In Cesar, where the IFRC says water shortages pose a direct threat to health, a water, sanitation and hygiene component aims to supply 900 people with clean water. Alongside family kits containing buckets, drums or jerry cans and household filters, the plan includes a community water treatment plant able to treat up to 30,000 litres per day — 900,000 litres over a month of continuous operation, the IFRC states.

A two-sided forecast

The IFRC describes the Colombian Red Cross as the only entity within the country's National Disaster Risk Management System with a fully implemented Early Action Protocol in the field. Before the climate triggers were confirmed, the IFRC says teams and volunteers were trained across 18 branches nationwide, supplies were pre-positioned and contracts with financial service providers were secured.

The federation stresses that the response will keep evolving as forecasts move. "Some countries face both droughts and excessive rainfall in different parts of their territory. Colombia is a clear example of this complexity," said María Martha Tuna, IFRC Manager of Operations, Evolving Crises and Disasters for the Americas. The IFRC notes that while El Niño drives severe drought in the Andean and Caribbean regions, it can bring unusually heavy rainfall and flooding to the south of the country.

"This means we cannot develop a single, one-size-fits-all package for the entire region," Tuna added. "Our support must be tailored to each country, each risk, each community and each phase of the emergency." The Colombian operation, the IFRC says, forms part of a wider regional plan for the Americas. The full text is available from the IFRC; background on drought impacts is collected on our impacts page.