2mn people at risk of hunger after drought in C. America – UN

Poor harvests caused by drought in parts of Central America could leave more than two million people hungry, the World Food Program (WFP) said on Friday. Lower than average rainfall in June and July has led to major crop losses for small-scale maize and bean farmers in Central America’s “Dry Corridor,” which runs through Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. This means subsistence farmers will not have enough food to eat or sell in the coming months, and have no food supplies to see them through the lean time between harvests. Central America is one of the regions most vulnerable to extreme weather linked to climate change, according to the UN. The region was hit hard by consecutive years of drought from 2014 to mid-2016, which left millions in need of food aid, Reuters said.