By Adoniram Sanches and Mariom Khamis*
Prensa Latina staff
Rural populations and the people who work in these agricultural value chains, produce food and drive countries’ economies are already suffering the impacts.
In 2023, all high temperature records were broken and extreme floods and droughts, major fires and heat waves are now commonplace in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Today the region is facing a new blow: the emergence of the El Niño phenomenon, which increased the surface temperature of the sea, led to devastating effects on fisheries and threatened the threat of climate shocks such as drought.
This is particularly worrying for the agricultural sector. According to recent figures from the FAO, agriculture and its sectors absorb 82 percent of total economic losses due to events of this type and 23 percent of total damage and losses due to disasters.
Therefore, we need to introduce innovative and scalable solutions to avoid and reduce these losses.
FORECASTS AND WARNINGS ALLOW FORWARD-LOOKING MEASURES
Forecasts and alerts allow us to take proactive measures to reduce risks and mitigate potential impacts, rather than waiting for emergencies to occur to act.
They also help us prepare for disasters that we cannot avoid by ensuring a faster and more efficient response to emergencies, thereby preserving people’s dignity.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is supporting countries to implement drought preventive measures in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela and Colombia.
These measures include water collection, storage and management infrastructure and irrigation systems to improve water use.
In Ecuador, assistance is also being provided to prepare to combat El Niño Costero by implementing drainage systems and cleaning canals.
MOBILIZE MORE HELP FOR VULNERABLE LATIN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES
FAO also presented a response plan to mobilize more assistance to vulnerable communities in Latin America, with the aim of supporting more than one million people in several countries in the region.
These efforts complement a broader climate change adaptation program.
Building climate resilience capabilities is the only way to protect people’s livelihoods, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and better lives.
We shared some of the work we are developing during this year’s Climate Week in Panama, where countries in the region are highlighting the importance of climate action.
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*The authors are the sub-regional coordinator for Mesoamerica and FAO representative in Panama and Costa Rica; and the FAO Disaster Risk Management Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean, respectively.