El Niño freezes crops in PNG as El Niño brings unlikely threat

Frosty and dry conditions from El Niño create localised food shortages in PNG In the mountains of Papua New Guinea, months of dry weather are producing a seemingly unlikely threat: frost. Anthony Morant lives in Kosipe, a village in the Goilala district of Central Province, where freezing nights followed by intense sunshine have devastated local food gardens. "The frost continues to fall every night," he said. "When the sun rises in the morning, it burns out the crops … we're going into the fourth month now, and all the current crops are gone." Drought, crop-destroying frost and water shortages are not unheard of during El Niño in the western Pacific. But the severe conditions and potential magnitude of this particular event are causing alarm. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology says Pacific Ocean temperatures could climb beyond the highest levels observed since reliable records began in 1950. Across PNG, communities are already reporting destroyed crops, shrinking rivers and growing shortages of food and drinking water. Food shortages are highly localised so far, but there are concerns they could become widespread as the El Niño worsens. In June, residents of Upper Mendi in the Southern Highlands said unusually heavy frost had destroyed taro, sweet potato, bananas and sugar cane crops. Similar images elsewhere in the country show frost-burnt crops, dwindling water supplies and boats stranded by receding rivers, including the vital Fly River transport route in Western Province. Loading...For communities already facing poor transport links and limited access to government services, some fear the dry spell could become a food and water crisis. Authorities meanwhile are warning that failed food crops could lead to social unrest. A slow-moving disaster El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with unusually warm waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. As the world continues to emit record amounts of greenhouse gases and temperatures rise, research has suggested the natural swings between La Niña and El Niño are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change. While it is not entirely clear what is driving the intensity of this year's event, Monash University adjunct professor and climate councillor Andrew Watkins said warming global temperatures could be contributing. "Climate change basically means that we're heating up the atmosphere, but about 90 per cent of that heat actually gets driven into the oceans," he said. In the Pacific, El Niño typically returns every few years, generally bringing hotter and drier weather. The dry conditions can wreak havoc in parts of PNG, where four in five people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods — much of it subsistence or semi-subsistence farming. But in Kosipe, it is not just food crops that are affected. Mr Morant said the situation had impacted schools, with schoolteachers forced to leave the classroom so they could forage for food and secure supplies for the community. "The situation on the ground has gone from bad to worse,"he said. "Now that both teachers are down here, that means the schoolchildren are affected." Mr Morant said the community has enough food to survive for now, but it desperately needs rain. Experts fear the community's troubles may be reflective of a broader issue — one that may take months to emerge in other parts of PNG. Wilson Thompson, president of the PNG Farmers and Settlers Association, said the full consequences of failed crops may not become fully apparent until months later, as areas still receiving regular rain begin to dry up. He said crops planted in June were unlikely to produce a harvest, while earlier plantings could yield less than half, and in some cases only a quarter, of what farmers expected. Police are also warning that deepening shortages could contribute to crime and civil disorder between communities. Internal Security and Police Minister Sir John Pundari said police had been instructed to come down hard on criminals in areas where pressure on water and food could increase tensions. The PNG government meanwhile has allocated an additional 500 million kina ($157 million) to its El Niño response. Prime Minister James Marape in June advised local leaders to identify water sources, vulnerable communities and food-security risks so they could respond quickly. "We have asked provinces and districts to take ownership of this disaster that may happen and have a localised approach," he said. Kachen Wongsathapornchai, from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation in PNG, said those preparations had begun in some of the worst-affected areas. But Mr Thompson said the advice was not reaching remote communities without regular access to newspapers or other media. Taking warnings from kitchen to kitchen Elsewhere in the Pacific, communities that rely heavily on their gardens are also feeling the effects. In Vanuatu, where as much as 80 per cent of the population relies on subsistence agriculture, communities are also reporting damage to their gardens. Market vendors say island cabbage is dying, banana trees are producing poor-quality fruit, and dry conditions are increasing the risk of fires burning through food crops. Northern parts of Vanuatu are expected to receive significantly below-average rainfall, threatening islands that rely heavily on rainwater catchments. Government agencies are holding weekly meetings with sectors including water and tourism, while community organisations are carrying warnings into some of the country's most isolated areas. ActionAid Vanuatu has placed women at the centre of that effort, using a network that passes official information between government agencies and communities. Country manager Flora Vano said it helps ensure people receive trusted information rather than rumours. "It's not coconut wireless, it's the right information from the right source," she said. "Where there is no reception, we have to walk on our own two feet, from one kitchen to the next kitchen, because the place where women talk is in the kitchen." Water shortages are already placing additional pressure on families. Community mobiliser Leah Sandy said some girls were missing school to help their parents find water and care for relatives. Other residents have reported skin conditions including scabies and ringworm as river levels fall and water quality deteriorates. Ms Vano fears worsening shortages could also increase violence against women, particularly when they are blamed for failing to provide enough food for their households. But communities are adapting. Families collect drinking water from freshly cleaned iron roofs when it rains, turning to neighbouring wells when those supplies run out. Vanuatu's Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department expects the coming months to become more challenging. "People would say, 'We're having rain, what El Niño is this?'" Director Levu Antfale said. "But the tools we're using and the conditions we're monitoring are showing that it will reach its climax or peak in November, December and January."