The Costa Rican Government presented its Inter-institutional Contingency Plan to mitigate the effects of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENOS) that will bring droughts and floods to a large part of the national territory at the end of this year.

President Carlos Alvarado and the Minister of Presidency Rodolfo Piza signed a directive to create a Permanent Attention Committee formed by 12 institutions under the coordination of the National Emergency Commission (CNE).

All institutions involved are obligated to act to support the populations vulnerable to the effects of El Niño “to guarantee them the subsistence alternatives while they manage to recover their domestic economy and to give particular attention to the small agriculture activities including fishing and aquaculture”, highlighted Alvarado.

El Niño is a climate pattern that has an impact on ocean temperatures, the speed and strength of ocean currents, the health of coastal fisheries, and local weather.

The biggest effects of the phenomenon are expected in the months of November, December and January, causing droughts in the North Pacific, deficit of rain in the Central Valley, moderate deficit of rain the Central and South Pacific, excess and deficit of rains in the North Zone and excess of rains that could cause severe floods in the Caribbean.

Among the five specific actions that will be implemented to protect the agriculture sector are: adaptation for the estates and farmers, food for the animals, animal health services, economic assistance and phytosanitary vigilance.

The previous drought faced during 2014-2015 gave the institutions enough experience to prepare for this crisis defining strategies and priorities.