Weather in the Horn of Africa is becoming more and more unpredictable. One drought follows another, leaving communities increasingly vulnerable to hunger and food insecurity. A recent report released by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that early interventions can help avert the worst effects of drought. Dunja Dujanovic and Catherine Jones from the Early Warning Early Action Team at FAO discuss how early interventions effectively reduced the impacts of the 2017 drought in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.