“Sponge City”: San Salvador uses nature to fight floods (Reliefweb)

Reliefweb published an article on how ongoing floods in El Salvador are causing a loss of crops, particularly coffee in the country. One farmer said, “The landslides take away all the crops planted in that area, so you need to reinvest. It drains resources when resources are scarce, to begin with.” In recent years, climate change has made extreme storms more common in El Salvador. But a movement is underway to change that. City officials and coffee farmers, with support from UNEP to restore 1,150 hectares of forests and coffee plantations. Before a decline in production over the last 10 years, coffee had been vital for El Salvador’s economy, employing around 150,000 people in 2012. An IFPRI report, Climate change impacts in El Salvador’s economy: The agriculture sector estimates that by 2050, climate change could hit El Salvador’s coffee sector more than any other country in the world.