Thanks to El Nino, South Africa’s rainfall last year was the lowest since records began in 1904.

(MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Faced with crippling drought, South Africa has announced it will loosen regulations on genetically modified crops in an effort to stave off a looming "food crisis," according to a by Reuters.

“In anticipation of the volumes expected to be imported into South Africa, the (GMO) Executive Council has approved the adjustment of a permit condition which relates to the handling requirement,” Makenosi Maroo, spokeswoman at South Africa's Department of Agriculture, told the news service.

While the country is the largest GMO corn crop grower in Africa, the country bans commercial GMO goods with "strains not approved by the government," and does not allow foreign GMOcommoditiesto be stored. The Department of Agriculture has said it will shift to temporarily allowGM maize to be stored in an effort to boost imports before supplies become critically low. The move would allow South African ports to accept maize with higher GM strains from places such as the United States and Mexico.

The nation's agricultural industry has taken a hit from El Niño-fueled extreme weather as the government has scrambled to assuage the effects of the catastrophicdry spell.

The low levels of rain in the country has prompteddrought emergencies to be declared in most provinces, according to.Earlier this month, the United Nations food agency said the intense dry weather is "set to have a devastating impact on harvests and food security."

(MORE: What You Need to Know About GMOs)

The severe drought has also sparked alarm from UNICEF, which warned that "11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and water shortages in east and southern Africa," theobserved. Skyrocketing food prices in the country could also spark "food riots," grain advocacy non-profit Grain South Africa cautioned earlier this month, .

Bloomberg that South African farmers are on track to produce only 7.44 million metric tons of corn during the growing season, which is 25 percent less than the 9.9 million tons from the previous year.

The drought has also given rise to fears of an economic slowdown in the country, with credit rating serviceMoody’s warning that the weather-related harm to the farming industry has pushed the nation to brink of recession,Reuters.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM:11 World Landmarks in an Epic Drought

U.S. Capitol – Before

This is how the U.S. Capitol looks today. (Thinkstock/iStock)