# Does the El Niño Southern Oscillation Actually Matter for Food Security? – State of the Planet

> A Columbia Climate School guest post argues that ENSO affects multiple breadbasket regions at once, including the US, Southeast South America, southern Africa, Australia, India and China. It notes that last year's La Niña already caused simultaneous crop failures.

- Date: 2018-07-27 · published 2018-07-27T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region Global · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/63941-does-the-el-nino-southern-oscillation-actually-matter-for-food-security-state
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Wheat (SRW)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WHEAT.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md)

## Why it matters

Because ENSO can hit several major exporters in the same year, the risk of simultaneous shortfalls supports a broader risk premium in grain and oilseed prices.

## Read by commodity

- SOY: bullish ▲
- CORN: bullish ▲
- WHEAT: bullish ▲

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2024-06-17 | [As El Niño Wanes, Food Security Pain Remains](https://feedsoft.ai/events/29663-as-el-nino-wanes-food-security-pain-remains.md) | -4.3% | -9.0% |
| CORN | 2021-06-13 | [The latest #ElNiño/Southern Oscillation (#ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion is hot off the presses from the #Climate Prediction Center – Coyote Gulch](https://feedsoft.ai/events/46483-the-latest-elnino-southern-oscillation-enso-diagnostic-discussion-is-hot-off.md) | -2.8% | -4.2% |
| CORN | 2026-07-28 | [El Niño threatens agricultural production and food security across the continent; FAO advocates for timely anticipatory action](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18241-el-nino-threatens-agricultural-production-and-food-security-across-the.md) | -1.7% | +1.9% |
| CORN | 2023-11-03 | [El Niño: Anticipatory Action and Response Plan, October 2023 - March 2024 - Mitigating the expected impacts of El Niño-induced climate extremes on agriculture and food security - World \| ReliefWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/33097-el-nino-anticipatory-action-and-response-plan-october-2023-march-2024.md) | +1.0% | -1.0% |
| CORN | 2023-08-07 | [El Niño: Anticipatory Action and Response Plan, August-December 2023 - Mitigating the expected impacts of El Niño-induced climate extremes on agriculture and food security - World \| ReliefWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/34472-el-nino-anticipatory-action-and-response-plan-august-december-2023-mitigating.md) | -0.9% | -2.9% |
| WHEAT | 2021-06-13 | [The latest #ElNiño/Southern Oscillation (#ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion is hot off the presses from the #Climate Prediction Center – Coyote Gulch](https://feedsoft.ai/events/46483-the-latest-elnino-southern-oscillation-enso-diagnostic-discussion-is-hot-off.md) | +5.8% | -5.4% |
| WHEAT | 2023-08-07 | [El Niño: Anticipatory Action and Response Plan, August-December 2023 - Mitigating the expected impacts of El Niño-induced climate extremes on agriculture and food security - World \| ReliefWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/34472-el-nino-anticipatory-action-and-response-plan-august-december-2023-mitigating.md) | +0.5% | -6.9% |
| WHEAT | 2023-10-30 | [El Niño Forecast to Contribute to Food Insecurity - NASA Science](https://feedsoft.ai/events/33546-el-nino-forecast-to-contribute-to-food-insecurity-nasa-science.md) | +2.3% | +0.4% |

## Sources

- news.climate.columbia.edu: https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2018/07/27/enso-la-nina-food-security/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.