Two major United Nations food agencies are urgently requesting $202 million to help shield 8.8 million people across 22 high-risk nations from the growing threat of an El Niño weather event. The appeal was made Thursday by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme.
The two agencies warn that strong El Niño conditions expected during the second half of 2026 could significantly increase the chances of drought, flooding, and powerful storms across regions of Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The 22 countries identified as most vulnerable include Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe on the African continent. In the Asia-Pacific region, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and East Timor are listed among those at greatest risk. Rounding out the list are Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Venezuela in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The agencies noted that securing the requested funding would allow them to expand their reach beyond the 1.2 million people already being targeted for assistance. Planned aid measures include cash transfers, seeds designed to withstand climate stress, protection for livestock, and flood control efforts.
El Niño is a naturally occurring weather phenomenon caused by a warming of sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean, triggered by a weakening of trade winds. It typically occurs every two to seven years and generally lasts between nine and twelve months.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officially declared El Niño’s arrival last week, adding that conditions are likely to grow stronger. The agency placed the probability of a very strong or so-called ‘super El Niño’ developing heading into 2027 at 63%.
