Farmers in Ethiopia have been particularly hard hit. Photo: FAO

United Nations (UN) leaders have called for combined efforts to prevent further human suffering, strengthen resilience and safeguard livelihoods in response to the devastating effects of El Niño worldwide.

The UN said more than 60 million people, of which 40 million were in East and Southern Africa, were projected to be food insecure in the wake of the climate event.

The heads of three Rome-based UN agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), also urged greater preparedness to deal with the possible occurrence later this year of a La Niña event, which often comes on the coattails of El Niño.

Also in attendance at the meeting this week were representatives of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

The release said the Horn of Africa, Southern Africa, Central America's Dry Corridor, Caribbean islands, Southeast Asia and Pacific islands had been hit the hardest.

"El Nino has caused primarily a food and agricultural crisis," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, warning the impact of the phenomenon on agricultural livelihoods had been enormous, and that they could worsen with La Niña on the doorstep.

In response, FAO will mobilize additional new funding to "enable it to focus on anticipatory early action in particular, for agriculture, food and nutrition, to mitigate the impacts of anticipated events and to strengthen emergency response capabilities through targeted preparedness investments".

WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin said mobilizing resources for rapid action now could save lives and minimize damage while reducing costs in the future.

"The massive impact of this global El Niño event, exacerbated by persistent poverty and chronic hunger in many countries, threatens the food security of millions of people who are the least able to cope," she said.

"Farms have failed, opportunities for work have evaporated, and nutritious food has become increasingly inaccessible for many communities.

"But new humanitarian crises are not inevitable if we invest in support for communities and provide the tools and skills required to endure climate-related shocks."

IFAD Associate Vice President, Lakshmi Menon, reminded the global community not to forget about small-scale farmers, who are the most vulnerable to these extreme weather events.

"Small-scale farmers in rural areas are disproportionally impacted by these natural disasters because many of them depend on rainfed agriculture for their lives and livelihoods, and they do not have the capacity to bounce back from shocks," Menon said.

"We need to invest in building their long-term resilience so when the next El Niño and La Niña cycles hit, they are better prepared and can continue to grow food for their families.

"It is clear that these types of extreme weather events are stressing already-vulnerable communities, threatening to undermine development gains of recent decades and impede achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals," added UN Special Envoy for El Niño and Climate, Ambassador Macharia Kamau.

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