Guatemala to provide food aid as El Nino causes severe drought

GUATEMALA CITY: The government has announced that it will provide food assistance to more than one million families struggling with drought caused by an intense El Nino weather pattern. El Nino, a climate phenomenon marked by warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, leads to shifts in global wind patterns and precipitation, resulting in erratic weather conditions.

This year's El Nino is described as the strongest since records began four decades ago, having already led to severe drought in Central America's Dry Corridor, encompassing parts of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

Crops and livestock are suffering due to the extreme weather, and the arid region is witnessing the death of agricultural produce. To combat the crisis, government aid will initially target around 134,000 families in Guatemala, according to Social Development Minister Abelardo Pinto, speaking at a press conference. Pinto further estimated that maize, beans, and rice distributions supported by the United Nations World Food Programme would benefit 1.2 million families by the end of the year. The total value of the food supplies amounted to approximately US$62.5 million.

With 60% of Guatemala's 18 million-strong population living in poverty, the drought is expected to exacerbate the already concerning issue of child malnutrition. Experts predict that the effects of El Nino will linger well into 2027.