Opinion: El Niño means farmers need more climate support than ever

For Rosa Elvira Castro, who earns a modest living growing corn, beans, and coffee in the hills of rural Honduras, much depends on the whims of the weather. Erratic rains have ruined harvests and decimated cropland in the past. Cyclones that are growing in power and frequency, are a risk to her rural community. It’s a reality that 65-year-old Rosa knows too well — she can recall the devastation of waterlogged farms, washed-away roads, and broken homes caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which triggered the worst flooding in Honduras that century. In 2023 the stakes are even higher. Against a backdrop of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, all exacerbating difficulties in the global food system, the El Niño weather phenomenon, which happens every two to seven years, has now arrived and is set to build strength this summer. Food security risk El Niño is caused by warm Pacific water accumulating around the equator, triggering significant changes in global atmospheric circulation, which is expected to spur more extreme weather in the form of more global heating, severe drought, and rainfall in some regions across the globe. That means in Central America farming communities like Rosa's are likely up against worsening drought and other climate risks. In Guatemala, for example, where Heifer International promotes agroforestry farming of cardamom and other spices to improve farmers’ adaptation to drought and high temperatures, farmers have told us they estimate that 60% to 70% of new cardamom plants could be lost this year due to high temperatures caused by El Niño. Globally, more severe climatic events will likely worsen acute food insecurity, threaten the livelihood prospects of rural families, and increase the rate of climate-induced migration, as farmers on the front lines will bear the harshest impact. Climate migration This year’s World Economic Forum Global Risks report, included for the first time “large-scale involuntary migration” in its ranking of the top 10 risks in the next two years, as well as “failure of climate-change adaptation.” In 2021, extreme weather internally displaced more than 23 million people. More frequent and destructive hurricanes, increased rainfall depleting soil, and longer and more devastating droughts threaten to push many smallholders from their communities. Tackling this challenge should be a collective, multisector undertaking. A year ago I attended the ninth Americas Summit in Los Angeles, California — and it was clear from that gathering that calls for economic investments must go hand-in-hand with building climate resilience. Discussions built upon a previous call to action issued by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021, which asserted the need to address the root cause of migration by spurring economic revitalization in Central America. On July 16, representatives of U.N. member states will meet to better align the Paris Climate Accord implementing process with efforts to reach the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Indeed, policymakers are right to keep the connection between climate and the need to promote viable livelihoods front and center as they seek to adopt sustainable development solutions. Protecting livelihoods The stakes are particularly high for smallholder farmers. Adopting climate-smart agriculture practices and creating economic opportunity for farmers in vulnerable communities is the most important investment we can make to maintain productive food systems and deter mass migration — keeping farming families where they want to be: at home. How can we do that? Access to timely information can be a lifeline. In Senegal, the Climate Services for Resilience Productivity project supports smallholder farmers to contend with changing weather patterns by supplying weather and agricultural market alerts to farmers via text and voice messages as well as through community radio programs. When farmers have information on weather patterns, they can adapt accordingly — choosing when to plant, harvest, and transport their goods to the market helps keep their livelihoods intact. When disaster does strike, farmers living at the poverty line benefit from mechanisms to contain the impact. In Nigeria, for example, a coalition of partners, including Pula Advisors, Olam Agri, Thrive Agric, Leadway Assurance Limited, and Heifer International, introduced a pay-at-harvest insurance program for rice farmers. The program allows farmers a means of reducing their risk of crop loss from climate-related events with a model of insurance that addresses farmers' inability to pay premiums early in the season. Investing in adaptation To be sure, it’s not just how producers approach their fields, it’s what crops they farm, too. In flood-prone Bangladesh, where recent cyclones have increased the salinity of 53% of the nation’s coastal farmland, emergency relief and development organization Cordaid has begun supplying farmers with salt-tolerant crops. The Salt Solution project has so far trained 10,000 farmers. Given that we can’t flip a switch and halt climate trends, disaster relief and reconstruction funding are surely needed for recovery efforts. However, more development dollars have to go to building long-term resilience and adaptation. The payoff is real: Every $1 invested in risk reduction and prevention can save up to $15 in post-disaster recovery. As the world braces for El Niño’s full effects, the climate crisis clock is ticking even faster. For Rosa and other smallholder farmers like her, taking the long view to build more resilient farming communities must remain at the heart of partnership-driven development. Visit Food Secured — a series that explores how to save the food system and where experts share groundbreaking solutions for a sustainable and resilient future. This is an editorially independent piece produced as part of our Food Secured series, which is funded by partners. To learn more about this series and our partners, click here.