Africa: The Climate Pattern Putting Millions At Risk - El Niño Explained

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a UN News Service report dated 30 July 2026, says El Niño is raising the risk of severe hardship for millions of people in eastern and southern Africa, while UN agencies and partners are trying to prepare communities before the worst effects arrive. The report describes El Niño as a recurring warming of the Pacific Ocean that can disrupt weather globally; it notes that climate change does not cause the pattern, but can make its consequences more damaging.

According to the UN News report, the impacts differ sharply by region. In eastern Africa, including areas from Somalia to Tanzania, El Niño is associated with heavier rainfall, flooding, landslides, damaged roads and cut-off services. In southern Africa, including Zambia, South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique, it often brings drought conditions that undermine crops, water supplies and grazing land. The report cites examples from Zambia, Malawi and Somalia to show how failed harvests, displacement, disease risks and malnutrition can follow.

The article says forecasters expect El Niño to strengthen in the coming months and possibly continue into early 2027. UN agencies are emphasizing anticipatory action because the phenomenon can be predicted months ahead. Between 2023 and 2025, early funding and support reportedly reached more than three million people in southern Africa and 5.5 million in eastern Africa.

The report says the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Food Programme are seeking to assist 8.8 million people in 22 high-risk countries through cash support, flood- and drought-resilient farming help, and livestock protection. The wider significance is that advance preparation may reduce hunger, displacement and disease before climate shocks become full humanitarian emergencies.