Preparing Agriculture for a New Era of Extreme Weather

Time and again, evidence has shown that proactive investments in anticipatory action, preparedness and mitigation can reduce the negative impacts of extreme weather events while minimizing economic losses. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPSOpinion by Esther Ngumbi (urbana, illinois, us)Wednesday, July 29, 2026Inter Press Service URBANA, Illinois, US, July 29 (IPS) - Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations put out an alert, warning countries around the world about an impending new El Niño phase that is expected to significantly increase the likelihood of drought, heat waves, storms, and flooding and pose major risks to agriculture across multiple regions. But this is not surprising, as in recent years, including 2026, droughts, storms, tornadoes, heat waves, and flooding have become increasingly frequent and severe.These erratic and extreme weather events have resulted in the loss of lives, caused billions of dollars in damage to infrastructure, while inflicting devastating consequenses to crop production, food security, and agriculture, a sector that supports millions of livelihoods, provides employment, and contributes significantly to national economies i...