ReliefWeb

The Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities (SFERA) enables FAO to take rapid and effective action in response to food and agricultural threats and emergencies.

SFERA has three components:

• Working capital component to advance funds once a resource partner’s commitment is secured toward the immediate procurement of inputs to protect livelihoods, restart agricultural activities or contribute to an immediate response to a crisis

• Revolving fund component to support FAO’s involvement in needs assessment and programme development, early establishment and reinforcement of emergency country team capacities, Level 3 emergency preparedness, and response activities

• Programme component, which pools resources in support of a programme framework for large-scale emergencies or strategically complements ongoing programmes through the Agricultural Inputs Response Capacity (AIRC) window, as well as early actions triggered by corporate early warnings

From its inception in 2004 through 31 December 2019, SFERA received USD 249 million, of which 210.2 million were allocated as follows:

• USD 105.3 were allocated to large-scale programmes (e.g. sudden onset disasters, El Niño response, highly pathogenic avian influenza, locust outbreaks, fall armyworm, and protracted crises)

• USD 53.5 million were distributed under the AIRC window

• USD 28 million were used to reinforce country office emergency response capacities and support need assessments and programme formulation

• USD 13.7 million were distributed to the Level 3 emergencies preparedness and response window

• USD 9.7 million were contributed to the early action window. Since SFERA’s inception, under its working capital component, USD 412.4 million have been advanced to fund immediate emergency projects, of which USD 21.5 million were advanced over the reporting period.