When the rains fail: Preparing for drought in Central America

“When there’s no water, that’s where you run out of ideas,” he says.

In his village of Palagua, dry seasons can last five or six months. For years, a failed maize or bean harvest meant searching for work elsewhere. 

Then, Mr. Martínez volunteered part of his land for a reservoir – opening up new possibilities for his whole community.

The Dry Corridor is a drought-prone region stretching across parts of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, where more than seven million people do not have guaranteed access to food.

Stark choices

When crops fail, families face a stark choice: go hungry or migrate. This year, El Niño has made that choice harder. 

El Niño is a natural climate pattern caused by unusually warm surface waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. 

It disrupts weather patterns around the world, affecting rainfall and temperatures. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says the current event could be unprecedented in strength. In Central America, it is increasing the risk of below-average rainfall and drought.

Mr. Martínez grew mainly maize and beans, planting two crops a year. If the rains stopped before the plants matured, he could lose everything.

“We would plant the first and second crops, and just like that, we were left with no options.”

A reservoir changes the equation

That began to change when a project was launched to build a large water reservoir in the community. There was one condition: the farmers had to contribute the land.

Mr. Martínez volunteered five manzanas (about 3.5 hectares). “I raised my hand without thinking for even 30 seconds. I said, ‘I’ll give five manzanas for the project’”

With support from the World Food Programme (WFP), the reservoir and irrigation systems gave farmers a way to store and use water during the dry months. 

The project also included training to help them grow more types of crops and use water more efficiently. Anastacio and other farmers spent three weeks at Zamorano, the Pan-American Agricultural School in Honduras, learning techniques including how to raise tilapia and grow plantains. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also provided agricultural tools.

“I was self-taught. All I knew was how to grow maize and beans. Now I can tell you I’m more of a technician,” he says. “I owe all of that to WFP.”

His farm is now far more diverse. He grows plantains, cassava, sweet potatoes and malanga, among other crops, and has about 80 mango trees and three fish ponds. He can harvest during both the rainy and dry seasons, and neighbors buy produce directly from the farm.

Bountiful crop

When his children visit from the United States and Spain, they leave with suitcases full of food.

At 73, Mr. Martínez still farms. On Sundays, he rests in a hammock, wearing shorts and a T-shirt, with his dogs beside him.

“I sleep peacefully. I have nothing to fear here.” 

In Camotán, Guatemala’s Chiquimula Department, Marta Ávalos is helping her community confront another consequence of drought: the risk of running out of food when crops fail and household incomes disappear. 

Ms. Ávalos, who grew up in Camotán, knows what it means to struggle for an education. She wanted to be a teacher, but her family could not always afford to keep her in school. 

She alternated years of study with years of work picking coffee on farms, saving for her school supplies, shoes and backpack.

“Families are making the most of what they receive. Before, that mindset didn’t exist,” Ms. Ávalos says.

Her mother feared she would come home pregnant rather than with a diploma. It was her grandfather who persuaded her to let her continue. “All right, even if it means eating tortillas with salt, I’ll support you,” her mother told her.

“Believe me, I jumped for joy,” Ms. Ávalos recalls.

She became a teacher, earned a degree in education and now works for the municipality, organizing community projects. Neighbors turn to her for help with paperwork and other problems.

When WFP began working in the area to help families cope with drought and the risk of child malnutrition, Ms. Ávalos became a key partner in organizing the community’s response.

The goal was not only to help families through the hardest months, but also to prepare them for the next drought. Such measures are part of what the United Nations calls anticipatory action: taking steps ahead of an expected crisis to reduce its likely impact.

One of the initiatives was a community grain bank funded by the UN Central Emergency Fund (CERF). WFP provided the initial stock of maize and beans, and residents took charge of buying, selling and restocking, storing the grain in blue plastic silos taller than Ms. Ávalos herself. 

Before, families had to travel to the municipal market to buy maize and beans, a round trip of about an hour that cost around 70 quetzales (about $9), Ms. Ávalos says. Now the grain is minutes from their homes.

Not everyone wanted to keep the bank running. Some residents suggested selling off the stock, assuming WFP would not come back to check. 

Ms. Ávalos, who sits on the community development council, told them that was not the purpose of the project. One of the community’s two grain banks is now in her own home.

Most of the hamlet’s 200 families buy grain from the banks. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) provided hens and agricultural tools, the Ministry of Agriculture supplied vegetable seeds, and the municipality contributed fertilizer. Some families sell eggs to buy rice, sugar or beans.

“Families are making the most of what they receive. Before, that mindset didn’t exist,” Ms. Ávalos says.

Beating the drought

The work in these communities is part of a broader WFP effort to help families prepare for drought before it becomes a crisis. The agency started giving El Niño early warnings in April, before the main planting season and distributing cash assistance to families most at risk. 

These measures have reached more than 409,000 people across countries in the Dry Corridor, according to WFP.

As drought conditions worsened, the agency stepped up its emergency response. More than 470,000 people across Central America are now receiving food and cash assistance from WFP, according to the agency.

“If El Niño teaches us one lesson, it is this: preparing for disaster costs far less than rebuilding after,” Lena Savelli, WFP’s Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, wrote.

Hear Anastacio Martínez and Marta Ávalos tell their stories in “Cuando deja de llover” the latest episode of the Spanish-language podcast Sin la ONU.