Forecasting hazards, averting disasters

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6.1.2   The cost of supplies

As shown in Box 4, early action can yield significant cost 

savings through early procurement and prepositioning 

of humanitarian supplies. These savings will most likely 

be realised in slow-onset or predictable disaster contexts, 

where there is a good deal of lead time to be able to 

respond. Not all items can be procured in advance at 

a lower price, storing prepositioned supplies can be 

expensive and certain items will have shelf-lives that 

may require disposal if a disaster does not occur in the 

relevant timeframe.