The United Nations on Thursday, 30 July, called for approximately €36.6 million in urgent funding to anticipate the consequences of El Niño across Southern Africa, including Mozambique, warning that this year’s climate phenomenon is forecast to be “unprecedented” in severity.
Of the total €47 million required, some €36.6 million remains unfunded. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said the money is needed “to help 2.3 million people in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe”, according to a joint statement released after the two agencies convened in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.
“For the first time, FAO and WFP have launched a joint, forward-looking appeal for large-scale anticipatory action,” the agencies said, warning that a lack of funds could leave the most vulnerable households “condemned to hunger”.
FAO’s representative in Mozambique, José Luis Fernández, stressed that “the period preceding the main planting season is crucial for action”, adding that early intervention “will cost less and protect far more” than responding after crops have failed and productive assets have been lost.
“With timely and flexible funding, we can help farmers access appropriate seeds and inputs, protect livestock and water resources, and maintain food production before rainfall shortfalls cause irreversible losses,” Fernández said.
WFP’s representative in Mozambique, Claire Conan, argued that acting “before disaster strikes” is more effective, dignified, and cost-efficient than intervening after communities have already lost their assets and livelihoods.
“WFP has been supporting the Government in developing an Early Action system that translates forecasts into early actions. With resources, we can provide assistance before droughts peak and floods occur,” Conan said.
Among the preventive actions planned by the two UN agencies are support for farmers and food production systems, as well as measures to protect the food security of vulnerable households.
El Niño is characterised by the anomalous warming of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific and by shifts in atmospheric circulation, generating a range of effects across different regions of the world. The phenomenon typically develops between March and June, reaching peak intensity between November and February, with its effects on global temperatures generally most pronounced in the year following its onset.
The previous El Niño episode, which occurred between 2023 and 2024, contributed to those two years consecutively breaking global temperature records. It was also associated at the time with severe droughts across Southern Africa, Central America and northern South America, an elevated risk of wildfires, and episodes of torrential rainfall and flooding in multiple regions.
On 9 July, Mozambique’s National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) warned that this year’s El Niño is expected to be more severe than the 2015 episode, forecasting drought in 36 districts across the south and centre of the country. During the 2015 event, Mozambique was the most severely affected country in the world by extreme climate events, and nearly half of the worst-hit states were located in Africa.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/2026/07/31/economia/desenvolvimento/onu-pede-366-me-para-accao-antecipada-contra-el-nino-no-pais-e-na-regiao/
