El Niño: East Africa governments must look beyond the next downpour

The El Niño forecast should consequently be treated as both a warning and a test.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

Across East Africa, authorities are scrambling to prepare for what has been described as potentially the biggest El Niño event in 176 years.

Far from being treated as routine information for public consumption, warnings from the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration should instead be used to drive a coherent and coordinated preparedness response.