Heifer International Supports 16,000 Farming Families to Combat El Niño Impact

Heifer International has announced a significant initiative to support 16,000 farming families in the Americas, aiming to mitigate the impact of El Niño on local food systems. The nonprofit organization will focus on strengthening the resilience of smallholder farmers in Ecuador, Guatemala, and Honduras, who are key producers of globally traded commodities such as coffee, cacao, and spices.

In the lead-up to expected climate extremes, including severe droughts and flooding, Heifer International will implement a series of resilience-building measures. These include protecting water supplies, adjusting planting and harvesting schedules, improving drainage and storage systems, securing alternative transport methods, and safeguarding livestock. The organization's efforts are crucial as agriculture provides livelihoods for a significant portion of the population in these countries.

He emphasized the importance of turning early warnings into early action to protect communities and markets that depend on smallholder farmers.

The nonprofit is already working with authorities in Ecuador as part of its Alístate project, which aims to build climate resilience among producer organizations. The project involves approximately 3,700 families across eight provinces and has recently launched in Galápagos. In Ecuador, climate change has profoundly transformed the lives of rural communities, generating economic losses, raising production costs, reducing water flow, degrading soil, and causing the loss of ancestral knowledge due to disruptions in the agricultural cycle.

Josselyn Vega, president of the Association of Agroecological Producers of Cotopaxi in Ecuador, highlighted the ongoing challenges.

During the 2023 El Niño, Guatemala reported crop losses of up to 75 percent in some affected areas, while Honduras saw a decline in coffee production by about nine percent, bananas by 13 percent, and palm oil by eight percent. Heifer International's efforts are part of a broader commitment to farmers in the region, as policymakers, business leaders, farmers, and experts gathered in Des Moines, US, and Quebec City, Canada, for significant conferences on agriculture and food security.

The organization aims to minimize the impact of El Niño events, avoiding losses comparable to those in 1997-1998, when extreme conditions caused losses exceeding US$7.5 billion in the Andean region and significant impacts on agriculture, livestock, and fisheries in Central America. Heifer International's work is essential in ensuring the resilience of smallholder farmers and the broader food systems in the Americas.