Dry Corridor

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.

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.