The warning comes as the weather phenomenon threatens to intensify between October and April next year, with scientists saying it could become the strongest on record.

Global funding to prepare for and respond to El Niño is critically insufficient to protect millions of people from worsening hunger, water shortages and extreme weather, aid agency Oxfam has warned.

Oxfam says total global funding for El Niño preparedness and humanitarian response currently stands at $450 million (Sh58.5 billion), far below what is needed to address the scale of the looming crisis.