Guatemala plans food aid for 1.2 million families

Guatemala plans to provide food aid to more than one million families affected by drought linked to El Nino, the government said.

Social Development Minister Abelardo Pinto said distributions would first reach about 134,000 families. He estimated that maize, beans and rice, supported by the United Nations World Food Programme, would reach 1.2 million families by the end of the year and were worth about $62.5 million.

The drought has hit Central America's Dry Corridor, an arid region that includes parts of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Crops and livestock are dying as El Nino disrupts rainfall patterns.

Guatemala has 18 million people, and 60 percent live in poverty. Child malnutrition is expected to worsen with the drought. El Nino is predicted to peak at the end of the year, while experts say its consequences will stretch into 2027.