in august and september 2018, several organizations began to warn farmers about the possibility of an oncoming drought. in august 2018 the southern african development community advised farmers to avoid selling some of their stockpiled food from the previous season, and in september 2018 the united nations food and agriculture organization (fao) issued a warning to southern african countries about the formation of conditions for a drought. patrick kormawa, the sub-regional coordinator for fao in southern africa, predicted a 40 percent chance the region would be impacted by an el niño event in fall 2018.