Guatemala's government announces upcoming delivery of humanitarian aid for families affected by the drought

Claudinne Ogaldes, executive secretary of CONRED, speaks in front of a microphone during a meeting with documents and notes on the table. (Conred Guatemala)The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction, Conred, reported that it will soon deliver humanitarian aid to families affected by climate variability in different regions of Guatemala. The institution plans to gradually reach 689,822 households throughout the country, under the 2026 Drought Response Plan. The identification of municipalities was carried out based on agricultural loss reports from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA), following the procedures established in the National Response Plan. The emergency has a budget extension of 500 million quetzales for the purchase of 571,000 rations destined for families in 210 municipalities. Conred's executive secretary, Claudinne Ogaldes, released the list of included locations through the institution's official channels. The details are also available on the website www.conred.gob.gt. A photographic montage represents the stages of storage, coordination, and distribution of rations driven by the government of Guatemala in response to the drought. (Illustrative Image Infobae)The list covers municipalities in Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Chimaltenango, Chiquimula, El Progreso, Escuintla, Guatemala, Huehuetenango, Izabal, Jalapa, Jutiapa, Petén, Quetzaltenango, Quiché, Retalhuleu, Sacatepéquez, San Marcos, Santa Rosa, Sololá, Suchitepéquez, Totonicapán, and Zacapa. The official noted that the food assistance will be free of charge for families and that distribution will be coordinated by the Conred system, without intermediaries. Before receiving the products, each municipality must activate its Emergency Operations Center to validate the households included in the lists. This prior step determines which families will receive aid in each community. The records come from the Community Development Councils, which prepare the lists of people who depended on their crops to survive and then forward the information to the municipal Emergency Operations Center for approval. The assistance will not automatically reach all inhabitants of a locality. The criteria focus on households that lost their agricultural production as a result of weather conditions. The rations will be delivered in stages, according to the availability of supplies. Part of the plan depends on food provided by the World Food Programme (WFP), which participates as a supplier within the coordination scheme with the Government of Guatemala. Each family will receive monthly a quintal of corn, 30 pounds of beans, and 10 pounds of rice. Conred planned the distribution for six months, although its continuity will be subject to budget availability and the updating of records of affected households. In Chimaltenango, governor María del Tránsito Calán, president of the Departmental Coordinator for Disaster Reduction (Codred), accompanied the activation of the municipal centers to identify families that lost their crops. More than 32,000 families from San Martín Jilotepeque, Santa Apolonia, El Tejar, Acatenango, and San José Poaquil require humanitarian assistance, according to Codred estimates. The five municipalities have already completed the necessary procedures to request the support. San Martín Jilotepeque concentrates the largest number of households needing attention within that group of municipalities. The local estimate establishes that 13,000 families in the municipality require assistance. Requirements that cannot be resolved at the municipal or departmental level will be transferred to the National Emergency Operations Center. Ogaldes indicated that Conred has already held meetings with departmental governors and trained technical teams from the Ministry of Education, MAGA, the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security (Sesan), and the institution itself. Monitoring of the agricultural situation will continue with new MAGA measurements in January and April 2027. Those surveys will allow the assistance to be adjusted as the impact on crops evolves. The agency also incorporated an indicator to identify farmers who did not plant due to lack of rain. That variable will be added to the evaluation of production losses already recorded in the communities included in the plan. Conred recommended storing water safely, avoiding agricultural and forest burning, staying hydrated during high temperatures, and preparing a Family Response Plan. The institution also advised having a 72-hour emergency kit for emergencies related to climate variability.