El Niño could bring severe droughts and floods to eastern Africa

24 September 2015

Farm Africa teams in Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia are starting preparations to help communities we work with respond to the potential implications of this year's El Niño effect, which may be the most severe since 1997/8.

Current projections suggest that the impact of the 2015/6 El Niño, the first since 2010, will bring a mixed picture across our areas of operation, including floods in some areas, such as the Morogoro area of Tanzania, and severe drought in others, such as the Afar region of Ethiopia.

Dr Yvan Biot, Farm Africa's Director of Research and Development, commented:

"This year's unfolding El Niño has all the hallmarks of a serious climatic disturbance. Some of the farming communities we work with could potentially benefit from additional rainfall, but many will be at severe risk from flooding and/or drought. Our teams have been mobilised to assist communities to prepare themselves for these eventualities." 

Farm Africa's response includes:

-       Project teams are adjusting the support they are providing to farmers in light of the forecast, providing recommendations on drought-tolerant varieties of seeds and minimising the impact of localised flooding as appropriate. 

-       In Afar in particular, we are assessing our options for working with the private sector to mitigate the impacts of the drought.

-       More broadly, we are undertaking a thorough review of our projects to put in place additional measures to help the communities we work with not only respond to the current situation, but also put in place measures that will help them cope better with future climate shocks.

Farm Africa's prime focus is on long-term solutions. Through initiatives such as the new Market Approaches to Resilience programme we are leading in Ethiopia, we build the resilience of farming communities across eastern Africa to adapt and respond to climate extremes.  

We are not a humanitarian response organisation and will not seek additional funding or reorient our existing funding to provide humanitarian relief. We stand ready, however, to assist humanitarian agencies with relief efforts by providing information and practical and logistical support to access communities in the regions where we already work.

Dr Biot added:

"The lessons we will learn from our El Niño response will be immensely useful in informing the design of our programmes to help strengthen the ability of vulnerable communities in eastern Africa to respond and adapt to long term climatic challenges."