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Hunger Spreads in Central America as Erratic Weather Continues

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - U.N. agencies report more than two million people
   in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua are struggling to
   feed their families as crops fail for the fifth consecutive year due to
   erratic weather patterns.

   An assessment carried out by the World Food Program, the Food and
   Agriculture Organization and government institutions finds five years
   of drought and excessive rains have decimated maize and bean crops in
   the so-called Dry Corridor of Central America.

   This geographical area is a tropical dry forest ecosystem that runs
   from Southern Mexico to Panama. The U.N. agencies say the area has been
   battered by the El Nino phenomena and abnormal weather related to
   climate change. And this, they say, has resulted in crop failure,
   ruined harvests and growing food shortages.

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