Nicaragua's ongoing drought, an aftermath of El Nino, is expected to last for at least three more months, local experts warned.

Esperanza Nurinda, a meteorologist at the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies (INETER), said that the drought would continue in the country's Pacific coastal areas for the first three months of this year.

"El Nino could continue to be moderate in the Pacific off Nicaragua, but it will be felt stronger in drought in the country's north and northeast," the meteorologist added.

Nurinda warned that the drought would have severe effects on the agricultural sector.

According to the Nicaraguan Agriculture, Livestock and Forest Ministry, the three departments in the north have been the most affected by the El Nino-related drought that started in 2009.

Nicaragua has 17 administrative regions in all, known as departments or autonomous communities.

On Monday, the European Commission office in Managua said that it would donate 155,000 U.S. dollars worth of technology and commodities to support some 6,500 people in the three drought-hit regions for four months.

INETER also said that the El Nino-related drought had affected three other regions in the center and northeast of the country.

El Nino, or El Nino-Southern Oscillation, is a periodic climate pattern. It happens roughly every five years across the tropical Pacific. When El Nino occurs, there are droughts, floods and other weather disturbances.

Developing countries bordering the Pacific and dependent on agriculture and fishing, like Nicaragua, are the most affected by El Nino.