Building Resilient Food Systems under ENSO Variability: Regional Risks, Adaptation and Anticipatory Action.

The occurrence of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is among the key reasons for yearly climate anomalies related to precipitation, temperature, and hydrological conditions in the world’s regions. Activities of both El Niño and La Niña have negative effects on food systems, manifesting in droughts, floods, torrential rains, and other extreme hydroclimatic events that can impact agricultural activities, irrigation systems, water resource management, people’s lives, transportation systems, the availability of markets, and food security. At the same time, ENSO-related changes have varying effects across regions, depending on socioeconomic vulnerabilities related to water availability, agriculture, infrastructure, institutional capacity, and access to climate information, finance, and social security. Smallholder farmers in particular are affected because rainfall and water availability in the community play a crucial role in their farming activities, and they may lack the necessary resources to forecast, absorb, and recover adequately from climatic disturbances.Therefore, the creation of food systems capable of anticipating, absorbing, and adapting to recurring disturbances caused by ENSO requires the use of climate-sensitive agricultural techniques, the establishment of effective early warning systems, climate information services, sustainable water use, agricultural extension services, risk financing, livelihood diversification, resilient markets, and proactive policies.Although an increasing number of researchers recognise the importance of ENSO impacts, existing studies are scattered across different fields, sectors, and regions, and often focus on specific risk factors rather than analysing how these risks affect food systems. One of the main research gaps concerns why similar climatic and hydrological anomalies associated with ENSO produce different impacts on the food systems of different regions and social groups. Regions and groups exhibit varying levels of exposure, vulnerability, and adaptation measures, which influence the effects of droughts and floods. Therefore, interdisciplinary studies should be conducted to link climate information with agricultural practices, water management, preventive measures, and policy development. It is important to examine effective combinations of technology, agronomy, institutions, and socioeconomic interventions to mitigate vulnerability.The objective of this study is to answer the following main research question:Why do similar climate and hydrological anomalies associated with ENSO have different impacts on food systems in different regions, and what combination of climate information, water management practices, agricultural options, preventive measures, market mechanisms, and public policies can help strengthen their resilience?The following specific questions can be posed:• How do ENSO-related climate and hydrological anomalies affect water availability, soil moisture levels, irrigation efficiency, groundwater, river flow, and agricultural production?• What are the differences in vulnerability, adaptive capacity, and resilience among poor farmers and their families in their ability to respond to ENSO-related climate changes?• How do the consequences of ENSO-induced climate disasters affect food transport, supply chains, and agricultural markets?• When analysing the role of climate-smart agroecological practices and agricultural resilience, which practices are most effective in the face of ENSO-related disasters?• How can weather alerts and hydrological data be translated into timely agricultural decisions?• What role can climate risk financing, social instruments, technology, and insurance play in promoting resilience?• What policies and governance mechanisms promote effective adaptation across different subsystems?With the answers to these questions, we hope to create an interdisciplinary dataset that will support researchers, professionals, and decision-makers in building resilient food systems.The area of research is open to several types of study: empirical, practical, comparative, methodological, and policy-oriented research on the human, agricultural, institutional, and socioeconomic factors of food security risks connected to ENSO.Proposals from the Global South and ENSO-sensitive regions are of particular interest, including studies that compare similarities and adaptive capacity across regions.Proposals may address the following themes:1. ENSO, Droughts, Floods, and Agricultural Water Security Studies on how precipitation and hydrological droughts associated with ENSO events can affect water supply, soil moisture, groundwater, river flows, and agricultural production.2. Vulnerability, Adaptation, and Diversification of Smallholder Farmers Research on differences in the vulnerability and adaptability of smallholder and family farming systems.3. Agricultural Markets, Value Chains, and Resilience Research on how the effects of ENSO propagate through transportation, supply chains, agricultural marketing, and prices.4. Climate-Smart Agriculture and Resilient Production Studies on agricultural methods, crop diversification, soil-related issues, agroforestry practices, and other approaches to reduce the system’s vulnerability to ENSO-related phenomena.5. Climate Services, Early Warnings, and Proactive Responses Studies on climate forecasts, early warnings, and methods for the effective use of meteorological information.6. Water Resource Management Research on irrigation efficiency and drought planning.7. Insurance and Climate Risk Financing Studies on weather insurance and other forms of climate risk management.8. Governance, Public Policy, and Regional Solutions Research on the role of institutional frameworks, agricultural policy, social protection, and governance in promoting resilience.We hope that this compilation will spur a debate that shifts from a focus predominantly on ENSO as a destructive force on agriculture to a focus on developing resilient food systems.By combining climate and hydrological information, agricultural practices, socioeconomic vulnerabilities, disasters, and governance, we aim to provide evidence to support a shift from reactive to preventive approaches.Comparative and interdisciplinary contributions will help identify examples of different solutions and principles across regions affected by ENSO. Topic editors: Yesid Carvajal Escobar, Rebecca Sarku, Claudio Fabian Szlafsztein Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86754/building-resilient-food-systems-under-enso-variability-regional-risks-adaptation-and-anticipatory-action