Experts from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an East African bloc, have stated that El Niño rains are set to begin in the Horn of Africa region right about now. Eunice Koech, a climate modeling assistant at the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Center based in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, that El Niño conditions have already formed and that the rains would begin anytime.
"El Niño rains will affect Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, southern Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Onset for most countries is from mid-October to mid-November. People should not be worried that the rains have not come; they are coming," she said.
Jasper Batureine Mwesigwa, a food security expert at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, said the positive impact of the rains would be improved pasture in arid areas, availability of water, good crop performance and enhanced food security. However, growers should expect flash floods that may lead to the burying of crops on farmlands, causing displacements and food shortages.
He further warned that there is also a likelihood of desert locust outbreak due to the heavy rains that would provide perfect conditions for the pests to thrive.
Source: english.news.cn
