Severe drought conditions driven by the El Niño weather pattern are devastating Central America, causing widespread crop failures, livestock deaths, and extreme food insecurity for millions of residents across the region. Lena Savelli, regional director of the UN World Food Program, told AFP that 16 million people across Latin America could face food shortages due to the phenomenon.
The Central American Dry Corridor Faces Worst Drought in Living Memory
The severe weather is concentrated across the Central American Dry Corridor, which encompasses parts of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. More than 10 million people reside within this zone, where United Nations figures show that 80 percent of small-scale producers are poor. While extreme weather events are common in the region, the El Niño pattern is expected to be the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago.
In San Lorenzo, southern Honduras, local residents describe unprecedented conditions. “Sometimes I break down in tears. Sometimes you eat, sometimes you don’t,” said 76-year-old Lidia Ochoa. Francisco Molina, another San Lorenzo resident, pointed to barren fields where corn should be growing abundantly, now surrounded by livestock carcasses decaying in the heat.
Failing Harvests and Soaring Food Prices
Agricultural losses are compounding economic pressures for families who depend on their own yields for sustenance. In El Salvador, temperatures have reached a record-breaking 42C in the northeastern community of El Matazano. Maria de la Paz Portillo, a 31-year-old resident managing the community’s water supply, noted that this is the first year the area has faced such severe water shortages.
The water tank in El Matazano previously supplied about 50 families and filled a pond used to raise tilapia for food and income. That project has been abandoned to preserve water for essential needs. “It’s affecting us because… we’re not eating tilapia, and also financially because it was a source of livelihood,” said 32-year-old resident Maria del Carmen Portillo.
In northern Guatemala, Indigenous leader Elvira Pasa reported that corn harvests in the municipality of Cunen are facing total loss, worsening existing child malnutrition problems. Pasa noted that villagers are forced to buy corn at prices 50 percent higher than normal. In Honduras, Ochoa echoed similar financial strain, stating that skyrocketing food costs limit her household to a single tortilla per meal.
Livestock Deaths and Adaptation Efforts
The prolonged drought is also killing malnourished livestock across farming communities. In San Lorenzo, approximately 100 cows have died in recent months, leaving skeletons across parched fields. Farmer Darwin Cruz reported that he has had to sell two dairy cows and lost a third, leaving him with three cows producing only a quarter of their usual output to support his wife and two daughters. Some farmers are attempting to adapt by switching to hardier crops; 53-year-old El Matazano resident Vilma Ortiz has turned to growing chili peppers, which she views as “braver” than her usual tomato plants.
Governments across the affected nations have declared national emergencies, though critics accuse authorities of neglecting impacted communities, leaving many reliant on assistance from non-governmental organizations. Experts warn that while El Niño is predicted to peak at the end of the year, its consequences will stretch far into 2027.