UN food agencies seeking $202 million to shield 8.8 million people from El Niño

ROME - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization 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, 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.

-Reporting by Alessia Pe; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Alison Williams/Reuters