Dry Corridor

An Oxfam report on the dry corridor spanning El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras warns that El Niño-linked drought has slashed grain harvests, killed livestock, reduced water access, and forced families to buy expensive food, hitting rural women and children hardest and raising malnutrition risk.

A prolonged drought in Honduras's Dry Corridor has left more than 68,000 families facing food insecurity due to crop failures and loss of agricultural income, with COPECO warning the number could rise if dry conditions persist.

Honduras and the UN World Food Programme agreed on coordinated action to address El Niño-driven drought in 103 municipalities under red alert, including cash transfers, school feeding expansion for over one million children, and direct support to smallholder farmers.

Severe drought linked to the Super Niño climate pattern has devastated crops and livestock across Honduras's Dry Corridor in southern Francisco Morazán, Valle, and Choluteca, leaving residents facing food insecurity and accusing the government of inaction.

The World Food Programme's regional director will visit Honduras this week to meet with President Asfura and assess the impact of an El Niño-driven drought affecting 103 municipalities, particularly in the Dry Corridor, where the government has declared a water emergency.

The Agriculture Ministry is evaluating silver iodide cloud seeding with private companies and international partners to stimulate rainfall across drought-affected areas including the dry corridor and Tegucigalpa over the next two months.

The mayor of San Miguelito in Francisco Morazán reports that severe drought has destroyed all crops and forced farmers to sell cattle at half their normal price, with no rain since May and water sources running dry.

Honduras's disaster agency Copeco has begun delivering food packages valued at 4,000 lempiras (about $160) each, plus medicines, to drought-stricken municipalities in Choluteca and El Paraíso, backed by a 300-million-lempira (about $12 million) budget, with cash transfers planned for up to 15 of the 75 municipalities identified as most severely affected.

Farmers in Honduras's drought-stricken Dry Corridor region are facing near-total crop failure after planting, growing, and harvesting corn and beans in arid conditions, leaving many to borrow money and buy cheaper grain to survive until the fall planting season.

Through July 2026, 10 of 25 weather stations recorded their lowest rainfall since 2022, triggering food insecurity and water rationing across the dry corridor, with experts warning of crisis if rains fail in September and October.

A severe drought has wiped out 100% of grain and vegetable crops in Alubarén, Francisco Morazán, leaving 1,800 farming families facing food and water shortages as municipal authorities seek emergency aid and warn conditions could trigger a red alert.

Climate experts say El Niño will intensify between October and November, bringing little relief to Honduras's drought-stricken dry corridor, where farmers report near-total crop losses and warn the crisis will persist for decades without adaptation measures.

The National Autonomous University of Honduras warns that rainfall could drop 30–40% below average starting in October across the Dry Corridor, the south, and Tegucigalpa as El Niño strengthens, threatening water supplies and the autumn harvest.

President Nasry Asfura announced $17 million in additional funding to expand ProOccidente, a rural development program, into Honduras's Dry Corridor, aiming to provide technical assistance, climate-smart technologies, financing, and market access to over 4,500 small and medium-sized farmers.

Drought linked to El Niño has pushed Honduras's disaster agency (COPECO) to place 75 municipalities in the dry corridor under indefinite yellow alert, while 49 remain on green alert and 113 are under monitoring for reduced rainfall across six departments.

Congress unanimously approved a measure requiring the emergency agency Copeco, the Agriculture Ministry, and the municipal association Amhon to report within two weeks on drought conditions affecting 75 municipalities in the Dry Corridor, where El Niño has cut rainfall by half.

Honduras's emergency agency raised drought alerts across 237 of the country's 298 municipalities due to reduced rainfall linked to El Niño, with 75 municipalities in the dry corridor placed under yellow alert indefinitely.

Over 30,000 sacks of food worth 4,000 lempiras (about $154) per household are being distributed across 12 municipalities in Honduras's dry corridor to 15,229 families who lost crops to drought.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization will invest $2.15 million to strengthen food security for 4,000 families in Choluteca, Valle, and Comayagua affected by drought and climate variability through cash transfers, agricultural kits, irrigation systems, and grain-bank support.

A severe drought in Reitoca, Francisco Morazán, has dried up local water sources, destroyed corn and bean crops, and forced the municipality to truck river water to communities; about 80% of the 8,000 residents depend on agricultural production and face food shortages and waterborne illness.

Honduras's National Risk and Contingency Secretariat will analyze 75 municipalities in the Dry Corridor already under alert due to El Niño-linked low rainfall, evaluating whether to adjust or expand warnings as the critical rainy months approach.