A strong El Niño is developing alongside climate change, raising extreme heat risks for agriculture. FAO and WMO highlight practical solutions for farmers.
A strong El Niño is taking shape in a world already altered by climate change, creating a particularly hazardous mix for agriculture. The phenomenon pushes global temperatures higher, disrupts rainfall patterns, and triggers weather extremes across major food-producing regions. Among the most visible threats is extreme heat.
Extreme heat interferes with planting schedules, damages standing crops, places livestock under severe stress, reduces fishery yields, and endangers the health of agricultural workers. The Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Meteorological Organization recently examined how extreme heat interacts with rainfall, humidity, wind, and drought to produce cascading effects that disrupt both farming systems and natural ecosystems.
Their report defines extreme heat as episodes when daytime and night-time temperatures stay above normal ranges long enough to cause physiological stress and direct harm to crops, animals, aquatic species, forests, and people.
Adaptation will require investment in heat-tolerant plant varieties and animal breeds, the adoption of new farming practices, and difficult decisions about which crops can still be grown in which locations. However, farmers also need guidance for the immediate seasons ahead. With El Niño expected to add further heat and unpredictability to an already warming planet, practical solutions are urgently needed.
Early warnings and heat-tolerant crops are key to protecting harvests
Farmers cannot prepare for threats they do not see coming. This is particularly critical during an El Niño year, when elevated temperatures and erratic rainfall can amplify heat and drought risks across entire growing regions.
Early warning systems are among the most effective tools available, but temperature forecasts alone are insufficient. Predictions must be translated into actionable, location-specific advice that helps farmers make informed decisions.
In Cambodia, the Green Climate Fund-supported PEARL project is assisting approximately 450,000 farmers across four provinces by installing and upgrading weather stations and delivering crop-specific advisories via a mobile phone application.
Alerts are provided in both text and audio formats to accommodate farmers with different literacy levels. When forecasts indicate temperatures exceeding 38°C, recommendations include shading vegetables, storing additional water, shifting irrigation to cooler periods, and protecting produce from direct sunlight.
This lead time transforms heat from an unexpected shock into a manageable event. The specific measures depend on the crop, livestock type, and local conditions, but the underlying principle is consistent: combine locally relevant guidance with basic resources to reduce heat stress.
This might involve shading crops, installing misting systems, adjusting planting schedules, feeding cattle during cooler hours to avoid additional metabolic heat, or ensuring shade for poultry, which cannot regulate body temperature through sweating.
Where extreme heat is becoming a recurring reality, farmers may need to transition to crops better equipped to handle heat or water scarcity, or even shift from cattle to more resilient goats and sheep. In Laos and The Gambia, FAO and the Global Environment Facility have paired early warning systems with the introduction of heat- and drought-tolerant crop varieties.
Pakistan offers a compelling example: a FAO-GCF project tested heat- and drought-tolerant cotton and wheat alongside protective practices like mulching, generating returns of up to USD 8 for every USD 1 invested.
Cool supply chains and worker safety are critical as temperatures rise
Extreme heat also accelerates post-harvest spoilage, converting heat stress into income losses and compromised nutrition. Approximately 526 million tonnes of food, roughly 12 percent of the global total, are lost or wasted due to inadequate refrigeration, and heatwaves only worsen the problem
In Jamaica, the Green Climate Fund is supporting ADAPT Jamaica, a FAO-backed initiative, to deploy solar-powered cold storage solutions, enabling smallholders to keep their produce market-ready during heatwaves.
Beyond crops and livestock, extreme heat poses a serious threat to the health of agricultural workers, contributing to dehydration, kidney damage, and chronic illness. More than one-third of the global workforce, about 1.2 billion people, face workplace heat exposure annually, with agriculture among the most affected sectors.
Protecting workers requires treating heat as a workplace hazard: scheduling tasks around forecasts, providing shade, water, and rest breaks, and offering basic training to recognize early signs of heat stress.
These measures represent what heat readiness looks like for farmers already bearing the brunt of rising temperatures: early warnings that drive action, practical advice, storage that prevents spoilage, and basic safeguards for the people doing the work.
With El Niño adding another layer of heat and uncertainty, these steps become even more urgent. Extreme heat is already reshaping agriculture, and these practical responses can help farmers prepare, adapt, and safeguard their livelihoods.