Climate‑Driven El Niño Threatens Global Food Systems: Scaling Agro‑ecological Resilience with Indigenous Knowledge and Equitable Governance
Original framing: “Preparing Agriculture for a New Era of Extreme Weather” — Global Issues
Climate models project a higher frequency of strong El Niño events under continued greenhouse gas emissions, increasing heat, drought, and flood risks for staple crops worldwide. Scientific consensus also emphasizes the co‑benefits of agro‑ecology for carbon sequestration and biodiversity.
The impending El Niño underscores how climate extremes intersect with historic patterns of land dispossession, corporate agribusiness, and unequal water governance, turning environmental shocks into humanitarian crises.
Indigenous agro‑ecological knowledge, when legally protected and integrated into participatory climate services, offers proven buffers that can be scaled through equitable policy reforms. Scientific modelling confirms that such systemic shifts—grounded in land tenure security, diversified cropping, and community water management—substantially lower yield volatility and carbon emissions. By foregrounding marginalized voices and employing trickster insights that invert dominant narratives, stakeholders can redesign food systems toward climate justice and resilience.