The growing intensity of El Niño is raising concerns about its potential impact on food security, livelihoods, and economies worldwide. While much of the attention has focused on agricultural production and food supply chains, the consequences can extend to workers and their families through rising food prices, reduced incomes and difficult working conditions.
These challenges have important implications for workers’ nutrition. As healthy diets become less affordable, workers may struggle to maintain adequate nutrition, with potential consequences for their health, wellbeing and productivity. This makes workforce nutrition an important consideration for employers seeking to support their employees and strengthen business resilience.
El Niño Disrupts the Food Systems
El Niño is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon in which sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, disrupting weather patterns around the world. Depending on its intensity and timing, it can trigger droughts, floods, extreme heat, storms, and other climate-related shocks. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), El Niño is expected to intensify towards December 2026, with effects potentially extending into 2027.
The most visible impact of El Niño is on food systems. Extreme weather can damage crops, affect livestock and fisheries, and disrupt food supply chains, reducing food availability and driving up prices. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that El Niño could push at least 49 million additional people into acute food insecurity by the end of 2027, increasing the number of people experiencing severe hunger by approximately 22 percent across vulnerable countries.
The Impact: What Does El Niño Mean for Workers and Businesses?
While El Niño is often seen as an environmental issue, its effects increasingly reach the workplace. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), climate-related disruptions associated with El Niño can reduce employment opportunities, lower incomes, and worsen working conditions, particularly for informal, rural, and outdoor workers. Sectors such as agriculture, food processing, logistics, construction, and tourism are among the most exposed.
For workers whose incomes remain unchanged while food prices increase, maintaining a healthy diet can become increasingly difficult. Households may respond by purchasing cheaper, less nutritious foods, reducing dietary diversity or skipping meals altogether. At the same time, extreme heat can increase exposure to dehydration, heat stress and other occupational health risks, especially among outdoor and physically demanding workers.
These challenges can affect workers’ health, energy levels, concentration and productivity. For businesses, this may contribute to increased absenteeism, reduced work capacity and occupational health and safety risks.
What Can Employers Do?
While employers may have limited control over climate shocks or rising food prices, they can influence workers’ access to nutritious food. Through workplace food programmes, affordable healthy food options and practical nutrition education, businesses can help workers maintain healthier diets, even during challenging times.
As we mark World Food Day 2026, under the theme “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow,” this is an opportunity for businesses to explore practical workforce nutrition approaches that support workers’ wellbeing and strengthen resilience to climate-related disruptions.
Here are three practical approaches employers can consider:
Adapt workplace meal programmes
Employers with existing canteens or meal programmes can adjust menus, procurement and meal subsidies to maintain access to nutritious meals when food prices rise or certain foods become scarce. Incorporating diverse, locally available and seasonal foods, including climate-resilient crops can support more flexible meal planning.
Make nutritious foods more affordable
Partnerships with local farmers and food suppliers, bulk purchasing arrangements, workplace food cooperatives and discounted nutritious food baskets can help improve access to healthy foods while potentially reducing costs.
Strengthen practical nutrition education
Employers can support workers with guidance on affordable, nutritious food alternatives, meal planning and food budgeting. Cooking demonstrations using locally available ingredients and information on healthy food substitutions can help workers and their families make informed dietary choices
These interventions can be adapted to different workplace settings and resources. Combined with adequate access to safe drinking water and appropriate heat-stress prevention measures, they can contribute to healthier workplaces and improved workforce resilience.
Building Resilience Through Workforce Nutrition
Climate resilience is not only about protecting infrastructure, supply chains and business operations. It also involves protecting the health and wellbeing of workers. This World Food Day, employers can help turn “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow” into action by making nutritious food more accessible and affordable for their workforce.
Explore the Workforce Nutrition Alliance resources and guidebooks for practical guidance on improving workforce nutrition.
References
- World Meteorological Organization (2026). Sea-surface temperatures reflect strengthening El Niño.
- World Food Programme (2026). What is El Niño, how does it affect hunger and how does WFP respond?.
- International Labour Organization (2026). El Niño threatens jobs and incomes for many workers in Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2026). World Food Day: Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow..