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Honduras + 2 more

ACT Alliance Full Appeal: Central America drought response - CAM 141

Attachments

Appeal Target: US$ 1,396,955

Balance Requested: US$ 1,396,955

Geneva, October 31 2014

Dear Colleagues,

A drought associated with Climate Change in combination with "El Niño" phenomenon has caused severe impacts in Central America, where it has damaged a large part of the corn and bean crops due to the significant reduction in rainfall and increased dry periods in the rainy season where levels were measured at 50% to 75% below average.

In El Salvador the government has declared a national state of emergency due to losses of up to 30% of the annual corn harvest and 90% of the annual bean crop.

In Honduras, the government has declared a state of emergency in the dry corridor, where 76,712 families are badly affected by the drought.

In Nicaragua, Estelí, Madríz, Chinandega, and Nueva Segovia are the most affected districts, nearly 75% of the corn crop has been lost. An estimated 100,000 families are most affected.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network calculates that losses in subsistence agriculture in the affected areas of the region reach up to 70%, causing severe difficulties in access to agriculture inputs and food for subsistence farmers. It is forecast that the drought will keep the rain patterns at very low levels until the end of the year, thereby affecting the second harvest of basic grains. This further aggravates food insecurity for the region.

The target population of this project includes subsistence farmers who find themselves in a situation of food insecurity as a result of the prolonged drought in the Central America region. The resultant effects of the drought will be increased poverty, migration, and hunger into the year 2015.