Guatemala
Faces Worst Drought In Three
Decades
Guatemala - Guatemala
is facing the worst drought for the past
three decades, which has triggered a food
crisis in the country, the National
Institute of Seismology, Vulcanology,
Meteorology and Hydrology said on Sunday.
The amount of rainfall in June this year was
3 percent lower than the average level in
the past 30 years, the institute said.
The lack of rainfall in the country's 22
departments has caused a loss of 90 percent
of the harvests of more than 120,000
families.
Low rainfall in July and August has
reportedly destroyed corn in at least four
provinces, triggering a severe food shortage
for thousands of families.
Authorities have estimated that around
400,000 families would suffer severe food
shortage, and the government has declared a
state of emergency over food supply in the
country.
Last Friday, President Alvaro Colom called
on the international community to provide an
aid of 100 million U.S. dollars to counter
the country's food crisis.
The government was seeking a solution to the
crisis that affected 11 of the nation's 22
departments, where 80 percent of the
population were suffering the food shortage,
he said.
The drought is the effect of El Nino, an
abnormal warming of surface ocean waters in
the eastern tropical Pacific, said Claudio
Castalon of the institute.
Castalon said that starting from September,
there would be more rains in the country.
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