UN food agencies seek $202mn to shield 8.8 mn people from El Niño

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Programme on Thursday appealed for $202 million to help protect 8.8 million people across 22 ‌high-risk countries from the looming El Niño weather pattern.

Strong El Niño conditions in the second half of 2026 are predicted ​to increase the likelihood of drought, floods and ​storms across parts of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, ⁠and Latin America and the Caribbean, FAO and WFP ​said.

The 22 countries most at risk are Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, ​Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe in Africa; Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines and East Timor in Asia-Pacific; ​Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela in ​Latin America and the Caribbean.

Additional funding would allow FAO and WFP ‌to ⁠expand support beyond the 1.2 million people already targeted.

 Planned support includes cash transfers, climate-resilient seeds, livestock protection and flood control measures.

 El Niño is a periodic warming of sea surface temperatures in the ⁠eastern Pacific caused by weakening trade winds. It occurs naturally every two to seven years and tends to last between nine and 12 ⁠months.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared the arrival of El Niño last week. It said the weather pattern ⁠was likely to intensify, with a ​63% probability of a very strong or ‘super El Niño’ heading into 2027.

-Reuters