Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Alert - Central America - 1/2002
EL NIŅO
Geneva, March 21, 2002


Recently, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and
other meteorological agencies have warned that the El Niņo phenomenon will
affect the Central America region between April and September of this year
(2002), causing a severe drought.  The rain season in Central America
begins in April and ends in October.

According to the World Food Program (WFP) 700,000 Central Americans will
face a famine if these countries are affected by El Niņo.  Experts hold
very little hope of avoiding the phenomenon and only its magnitude and
consequences are still unknown. The arrival of El Niņo will endanger the
entire basic grains crops and local authorities have alerted producers to
wait for a green flag before they do any sowing.

Last year El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua were affected by
a two-month drought, which left dozens of people dead and thousands
suffering hunger. In El Salvador, 120,000 tons of basic grains were lost,
causing US$ 19.5 million in economic losses.  According to the Economic
Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (CEPAL), El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras y Nicaragua faced losses of US $189,000 million during
last year's drought; of which 66% are related to agricultural and
industrial sectors.

El Niņo is a disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system - an interaction
between the surface layers of the ocean and the overlying atmosphere in
the tropical Pacific, which results in significant consequences for
weather and climate around the globe.

El Niņo has affected the global system for many years. The last time that
El Niņo brought major changes for global weather and climate was in
1997-1998. While other countries in South America suffered flooding, the
Central America region was severely affected by a drought, causing huge
crop losses and jeopardized food security for thousands of peasants and
small grain producers.  Many fear that the story will be repeated this
year.

ACT/ LWF field staff in El Salvador and Guatemala are presently assessing
the situation to later outline a strategy to face the possible El Niņo
emergency.



Thank you for your attention.

For further information please contact:

ACT Director, Thor-Arne Prois (phone ++41 22 791 6032 or mobile phone ++
41 79 203 6055)
ACT Appeals Officer, Elsa Moreno (phone +41 22 791 6420 or mobile phone
+41 79 608 8133)


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Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide alliance of churches and
their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency
response.  The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of
Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
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   Ecumenical Centre                          Phone: ++41-22-791.60.33
   150, route de Ferney                         Fax: ++41-22-791.65.06
   P.O. Box 2100                             E-Mail: act@wcc-coe.org
   1211 Geneva 2                              Telex: 415 730 OIK CH
   Switzerland                                 http://www.act-intl.org


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