AFP – Filipino farmer Daniel Velasco pumps water from a well in a desperate attempt to save his wilting vegetables, as a scorching heatwave and the worst drought in years hits crops.

It has hardly rained on Velasco’s plot of gourds and tomatoes since November, as the El Nino weather phenomenon brings drier conditions and baking temperatures.

“I’m losing a lot of money,” Velasco, 57, told AFP, standing barefoot on the cracked ground in the northern province of Nueva Ecija.

His gourds died before he could even sell them, pushing him deeper into debt.

El Nino is a naturally occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.

Unusually hot weather has blasted South and Southeast Asia for the past week, forcing schools to send children home and the authorities to issue health warnings.

Global temperatures hit record highs last year, and the United Nations’ (UN) weather and climate agency said last week that Asia was warming at a particularly rapid pace.

More than half of the Philippines’ provinces, including Nueva Ecija, are in drought as El Nino exacerbates hot and dry conditions typical for March, April and May.

Temperatures have sizzled around 40 degrees Celsius (oC) in parts of the country in recent days, with the heat index – what the temperature feels like, taking into account humidity – in one area hitting 53oC.

In the Philippines, which ranks among the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the upcoming harvest is likely to be “below average”, the UN has warned.

Crop losses are estimated at more than PHP4 billion (USD69 million) and farmers face further hardship if the drought doesn’t break soon.

It is hoped rain in mid-May will bring some relief, but drier than normal conditions could persist until August, chief climatologist Ana Solis at the state weather forecaster told AFP.

Spokesman Joey Villarama for the government’s Task Force El Nino said the current conditions were comparable to the drought during the 1997-1998 El Nino, the country’s worst-ever dry spell.

“We are up against nature,” Villarama said. “It’s very difficult because it’s unpredictable.”

Like Velasco, many farmers in Nueva Ecija normally count on the Pantabangan Dam for irrigation, but levels have fallen nearly 50 metres and it no longer reaches their fields.

The receding water forced two hydropower plants to shut earlier than usual – worsening already strained electricity supplies, as people crank up air conditioners and fans to cool off.

Some farmers like Velasco switched from rice to vegetables, which need less water, but even those are dying.

Velasco said his January harvest was halved by insufficient rain, and those that he did pick were too small to sell at the market.

Now, the groundwater is drying up.

It takes Velasco three times as long to draw water from the well as it did before.

He worries how he will cope if the rains do not come soon and his well dries up – as others around have done.

“Farming is my only way to earn a living,” Velasco said, fearing he would slip deeper into debt and be unable to send his youngest child to school. “If there’s no water, how can I continue?”

His neighbour Eddie Balagtas, 69, is also struggling.

“I just wasted my effort,” Balagtas said, removing his shrivelled watermelon vines on his one-hectare farm.

“If you don’t have other sources of income, there’s no choice but to borrow money,”

Balagtas said, praying for rain so that he could plant a crop of rice. “It’s hard.”

Rice farmers in drought-stricken Occidental Mindoro province, south of the main island of Luzon, have started to receive financial assistance.

“You could push your fist through the cracks, that’s how severe it is for the rice farms,” said information officer Daisy Leano for San Jose municipality.

As dam levels drop, some urban areas have been left without water.

More than 100 cities and municipalities have declared the drought a state of calamity to access emergency funds.

Fire trucks have been deployed in neighbourhoods of Bacolod city in the central province of Negros Occidental to deliver water to residents.

“I ask myself, ‘Why is this happening to us?’” said Dolores Bauya, 54, who lines up at least once a week to receive the free water.  – David Keyton

AP – Freshly cooked bread, select cheeses and a broad veggie offer will be among the meals to be offered to athletes and visitors during the 2024 Paris Olympics – including, of course, gourmet dishes created by renowned French chefs.

About 40,000 meals are expected to be served each day during the Games to the more than 15,000 athletes from 200 different countries housed at the Olympic village.

Visitors, too, will be able to enjoy some specially created snacks at the different venues.

French food services company Sodexo Live!, which was selected to oversee the catering at the athletes’ village and 14 venues of the Paris Games, said it has created a total of 500 recipes, which will notably be offered at a sit-down eatery for up to 3,500 athletes at the village, meant to be the world’s largest restaurant.

“Of course, there will be some classics for athletes, like pasta,” said Sodexo Live! global chief executive officer Nathalie Bellon-Szabo. “But the food will have a ‘very French touch’.”

Athletes will also have access to “grab and go” food stands, including one dedicated exclusively to French cuisine cooked up by chefs.

Renowned French chef Amandine Chaignot, who runs a restaurant and a café-bistro in Paris, on Tuesday unveiled one of her recipes based on the iconic croissant.

“I wanted the recipe I suggested to be representative of the French terroir, but I wanted athletes to enjoy it at the same time,” she told the Associated Press. “It was quite obvious for me to make a croissant that I could twist. So, you have a bit of artichoke puree, a poached egg, a bit of truffle and a bit of cheese. It’s both vegetarian and still mouthwatering.”

Every day, during the July 26-August 11 Games, a top chef – including some awarded with Michelin stars – will cook in front of the athletes at the Olympic Village, “so they’ll be able to chat and better understand what French cuisine is about – and to understand a bit of our culture as well”, Chaignot said.

Daily specials will be accompanied by a wide range of salads, pastas, grilled meat and soups. Cheeses will include top quality camembert, brie and sheep’s milk-based Ossau-Iraty from southwestern France.

The Olympic Village will also feature a boulangerie producing fresh baguettes and a variety of other breads.

“The idea is to offer athletes the chance to grab a piping hot baguette for breakfast,” said baker Tony Doré, who will be working at the Olympic Village’s main restaurant.

Athletes interested in other than sports, will even be able to participate in daily bakery trainings, and learn to make their own French baguette, said Doré.

In an effort to provide as many options as possible, meals offered will revolve around four cuisines: French, Asian, African and the Caribbean and international food.

Paris 2024 organisers have promised to make the Games more sustainable and environment-friendly – and that includes efforts to reduce the use of plastic. To this effect, the main restaurant at the village will use only reusable dishes.

Additionally, organisers said all meals will be based on seasonal products and 80 per cent will come from France. Plant-based food will represent 60 per cent of the offer for visitors at the venues, including a “vegetarian hot-dog”, said head of Food and Beverage for the Paris 2024 Committee Philipp Würz.

“There’s a huge amount of plant-based recipes that will be available for the general public to try, to experience and, hopefully, they will love it,” said Würz.

The urban park at the Place de la Concorde, in central Paris, will offer visitors 100 per cent vegetarian food – a first in the games’ history.  – Sylvie Corbet