Ecuador, Colombia strengthen farming sector ahead of El Niño

The government of Ecuador announced that nearly 1,000 technicians from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries will be deployed to 17 provinces, focusing on Guayas, Los Ríos and El Oro, to train and assist producers in managing the risks of a possible El Niño event. The initiative includes free technical workshops, guidance on risk management and distribution of UN‑DPF‑co‑developed manuals for crops such as rice, cacao, maize, banana and livestock operations.

In Colombia, the Department of Boyacá’s Agriculture Secretariat launched a drought‑resilience program for more than 400 cattle farmers across ten municipalities. The program provides training, technical support and supplies such as silos, forage banks and silvopastoral systems to help producers cope with reduced rainfall and potential feed shortages linked to El Niño. Both measures aim to reduce vulnerability, sustain productivity and improve climate‑adaptation capacity in the agricultural sector.