The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is developing a national response strategy to mitigate the anticipated effects of a very strong El Niño event on agricultural production and farmers’ livelihoods.
Mr Osei-Opoku Gyamfi, Head of Public Affairs at MoFA, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Thursday, saying the Ministry’s Management was engaging the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) to develop a comprehensive response plan.
He said the strategy, which was expected to be completed in the coming days, would complement existing interventions and preparedness structures to safeguard agricultural activities against the potential effects of the climate phenomenon.
Mr Gyamfi said the Ministry would announce the specific measures and actions under the strategy once the plan had been finalised.
The development follows a technical advisory by GMet calling for coordinated national action by the Ministries responsible for Agriculture, Health, Energy, Water Resources, Local Government and Finance to minimise the potential impacts of the developing El Niño event.
In a technical brief issued in October 2026, GMet indicated that the tropical Pacific was experiencing a very strong and intensifying El Niño, with a 96 per cent probability of reaching very strong intensity between November 2026 and January 2027.
The Agency identified November 2026 to April 2027 as a critical period for Ghana, cautioning that several parts of the country could experience hotter and drier conditions, water stress, bushfires and increased dust.
Such conditions could affect crop yields, livestock production and the livelihoods of farmers, particularly those in vulnerable communities in the northern and transition zones.
As part of the recommended response, GMet has urged MoFA to prioritise the availability of drought-tolerant and early-maturing seeds to enable farmers to sustain production under reduced rainfall conditions.
It has also recommended expanding access to irrigation and water harvesting facilities, alongside strengthening national food and seed reserves to improve the country’s capacity to manage potential production shortfalls.
For the cocoa sector, the Agency has called for closer monitoring of growing areas and targeted agricultural extension support, including improved shade management and disease control, to help farmers respond to the anticipated climatic conditions.
El Niño is a climate phenomenon characterised by the abnormal warming of surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, which influences atmospheric circulation and disrupts normal weather patterns across different regions of the world.
Ghana has experienced previous El Niño episodes, including very strong events in 1982/83, 1997/98 and 2015/16, as well as a moderate event in 2023/24.
GMet has, however, cautioned that the severity and geographical distribution of the anticipated impacts remain uncertain, as the eventual effects on Ghana would also depend on prevailing conditions in the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
By Edward Acquah, GNA
