A/HRC/37/61 with inadequate capacities to respond and among populations characterized by low resilience.7 14. The Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed two special envoys to investigate the impact of El Niño and climate change. Their report asserts that the El Niño episode “severely affected more than 60 million people around the world” and “led 23 countries to appeal for international humanitarian assistance in East and Southern Africa, Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The most vulnerable groups bore the brunt of the emergency, including women, children, the elderly, the disabled and people living with HIV/AIDS.” 8 15. In times of disaster, while the impacts on food availability are often of immediate concern, the gradual effects of natural hazards on accessibility, adequacy and sustainability are of equal importance — they may be less visible and yet more enduring. 1. Availability 16. The agricultural sector and its subsectors are very important for rural people, who farm for both food consumption and income. Although the main impacts vary significantly, depending on the kind of disaster and the region, the total percentage of losses and damage absorbed by the agriculture sector in developing countries has been estimated to be 22 per cent.9 While crops are more likely to be destroyed by floods and storms, livestock is usually affected by droughts, and the fisheries and aquaculture sector is affected the most by storms, hurricanes and cyclones. At the regional level, drought was at its most harmful in subSaharan Africa and the Near East; whereas Asia and Latin American and Caribbean countries were most affected by floods. 10 17. Natural disasters also destroy essential infrastructure, tools and equipment, irrigation systems, livestock shelters and veterinary facilities. During Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, in some of the worst affected regions, close to 100 per cent of the crops were destroyed. 11 In Puerto Rico, “Hurricane Maria wiped out most of the island’s crops. Banana and coffee — the island’s most valuable exports — were the hardest hit.” Due to the storm, the population faced “immediate food shortages but also long-term consequences from the destruction of the entire agricultural infrastructure”. 12 18. In the context of tsunamis or hurricanes, for example, workers in the fishing sector are themselves at serious risk, while their tools and boats face damage or the risk of being washed away. Following the 2004 tsunami, it was reported that in the Indonesian province of Aceh around 10 per cent of fisherfolk had been killed. In addition, estimates showed that 50 per cent of fishing boats had been either damaged or lost.13 Following her country visit to the Philippines in 2014 after typhoon Haiyan, the Special Rapporteur reported that fisheries production in the country had declined significantly. 14 19. The impact of extreme weather events and droughts also affects livestock — from spreading disease to loss of animals. Recent droughts in Ethiopia in 2016 resulted in a high rate of livestock morbidity and mortality, as well as a modification of animals’ migration patterns. 15 In Malawi, drought induced by El Niño impacted the production of various 7 8 9 Ibid., p. 18. “Preventing El Niño Southern Oscillation episodes from becoming disasters: a ‘blueprint for action’” (2016), p. 2. FAO, The Impact of Disasters on Agriculture and Food Security (Rome, 2015), p. 11, available at www.fao.org/3/a-i5128e.pdf. 10 Ibid., p. 31. 11 See https://wfp-americas.exposure.co/a-timeline-of-wfps-response-to-hurricane-matthew-in-haiti. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22326&LangID=E. FAO, “An Overview of the Impact of the Tsunami on Selected Coastal Fisheries Resources in Sri Lanka and Indonesia” (Bangkok, 2007), p. 31. See A/HRC/31/51/Add.1. FAO, El Niño Response Plan 2016, p. 10, available at www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/emergencies/docs/FAO-Ethiopia-ElNino-Response-Plan2016.pdf; and FAO, “Ethiopia situation report — April 2016”, available at 12 13 14 15 5