UN official calls for urgent funding to combat El Nino and Horn of Africa crisis

Rein Paulsen, director of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Office of Emergencies and Resilience, has called for increased funding to address the crisis in the Horn of Africa and the approaching threat of El Nino. Speaking in Nairobi following a fact-finding mission to Sudan, Paulsen noted that while regional governments have response plans, a significant funding gap threatens their execution.

For the FAO’s 2026-2028 Sudan emergency and resilience portfolio, only $44.1 million of the requested $193 million has been secured. Additionally, a joint anticipatory action plan by the FAO and the World Food Programme seeks $202 million to protect 8.8 million people across 22 high-risk countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean from extreme weather.

Paulsen emphasized that proactive mitigation is more cost-effective than crisis response. To build long-term resilience, the FAO is supporting Sudanese farmers through the introduction of drought-resistant seeds, expanded irrigation, livestock vaccination campaigns, and the securing of feed and water supplies.