# How Africa can prepare against the next El Niño and why - Sub-Saharan Africa

> An SciDev article by Esther Ngumbi urges African governments to prepare for the next El Niño, citing a WMO projection of a 50-60% chance of El Niño forming in mid-to-late 2017. It notes El Niño can bring either drought or floods depending on region, and that the 2016 event caused severe food insecurity.

- Date: 2017-07-11 · published 2017-07-11T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: weather · region Sub-Saharan Africa · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/69879-how-africa-can-prepare-against-the-next-el-nino-and-why-sub-saharan-africa
- Commodities: [Corn](https://feedsoft.ai/c/CORN.md), [Soybeans](https://feedsoft.ai/c/SOY.md), [Wheat (SRW)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/WHEAT.md), [Palm Oil](https://feedsoft.ai/c/PALMOIL.md)

## Why it matters

The article is a policy call for preparedness rather than a supply event, with limited direct price impact; the El Niño risk it cites is outdated by later models that show lower odds, so it has little effect on feed grain prices.

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CORN | 2018-10-06 | [How to prepare for an El Niño winter \| Climate and Agriculture in the Southeast](https://feedsoft.ai/events/62472-how-to-prepare-for-an-el-nino-winter-climate-and-agriculture-in-the-southeast.md) | -0.3% | -0.4% |
| CORN | 2017-05-19 | [El Niño again? This is why it’s hard to tell. \| Climate Change](https://feedsoft.ai/events/70915-el-nino-again-this-is-why-it-s-hard-to-tell-climate-change.md) | +1.3% | +2.6% |
| CORN | 2026-07-01 | [WMO: Prepare for El Niño](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18729-wmo-prepare-for-el-nino.md) | +3.0% | +5.1% |
| CORN | 2019-01-17 | [How technology is helping farmers predict and prepare for El Niño \| PreventionWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/61023-how-technology-is-helping-farmers-predict-and-prepare-for-el-nino-preventionweb.md) | +0.7% | +2.5% |
| CORN | 2017-09-18 | [How El Niño and La Niña affect the winter jet stream and U.S. climate \| NOAA Climate.gov](https://feedsoft.ai/events/68878-how-el-nino-and-la-nina-affect-the-winter-jet-stream-and-u-s-climate-noaa.md) | -0.3% | +2.7% |
| SOY | 2017-05-19 | [El Niño again? This is why it’s hard to tell. \| Climate Change](https://feedsoft.ai/events/70915-el-nino-again-this-is-why-it-s-hard-to-tell-climate-change.md) | -0.6% | -0.6% |
| SOY | 2026-07-01 | [WMO: Prepare for El Niño](https://feedsoft.ai/events/18729-wmo-prepare-for-el-nino.md) | +7.0% | +5.5% |
| SOY | 2019-01-17 | [How technology is helping farmers predict and prepare for El Niño \| PreventionWeb](https://feedsoft.ai/events/61023-how-technology-is-helping-farmers-predict-and-prepare-for-el-nino-preventionweb.md) | +2.4% | +1.0% |

## Sources

- scidev.net: https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/opinions/africa-prepare-against-next-el-ni-o-and-why/

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