Good news in the fight for food security in Latin America. The FAO regional office for the region has highlighted that at least three million people have emerged “from the most dramatic picture of hunger” in Latin America and the Caribbean, an achievement that in the words of Mario Lubetkin, FAO representative in the subcontinent , is “a light that begins to illuminate the path” to improve food conditions in a region that has not yet overcome the blow of the pandemic and whose food production is strongly affected by climate change. Despite the progress, Lubetkin warns that there are still 43 million Latin Americans who suffer from hunger and 130 million who do not eat well.
Last week, the FAO presented the so-called Ibero-American and Caribbean Parliamentary Alliance for Food Security, with the support of the international cooperation agencies of Spain and Mexico and representatives of more than 10 countries. The new initiative aims to join forces to promote initiatives within regional parliaments to serve the agri-food sector and eradicate hunger and malnutrition in the subcontinent. Lubetkin warns that the three million Latin Americans who have left the situation of hunger “does not mean that we are experiencing a change in trend and we have to be happy,” because there are still millions of people who are not assured of food. The FAO is preparing a new report on the hunger situation in the region, the results of which will be presented in July and hopes to confirm the trend of hunger reduction. “If the numbers are confirmed, and I have the feeling that we are on the right track, we can begin to say that positive results are beginning to occur,” says Lubetkin.
Latin American countries have not yet managed to overcome the blow of the covid-19 pandemic. Hunger in Latin America increased by 30% from 2019 to 2020, affecting 59.7 million people, according to a report published by the UN in 2021. Due to the pandemic, the region’s economies were closed, millions of people lost Their jobs and food supply chains were affected, impacting food imports in more vulnerable countries, such as the Caribbean islands. “That drop in food security has not been recovered,” Lubetkin says in a telephone interview. “Yes, there was a diversified recovery scenario, but not the entire region is reacting in the same way. It is clear that there is a strong, more concrete and positive push in the South American zone and Mexico, which are naturally areas of strong food production. That is the area that has made it easier to reach the three million who left the hunger situation,” he explains.
Left behind is the Caribbean and Central America, regions affected by natural disasters and the havoc caused by global warming. The so-called Central American Dry Corridor is hit by the lack of rain, which affects the production of basic foods such as corn and beans. The countries most vulnerable to drought are Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, where official data show that more than 70% of the harvests of these basic foods for the inhabitants of the region have been lost. “Central America expresses how climate change is another tremendous factor in the fight against hunger. According to the data we have from the Mesoamerican region, there was neither progress nor setbacks, but the enormous effort they made to advance was greatly affected by climate change,” explains Lubetkin.
The FAO representative warns, however, that the organization’s greatest concern is in the Caribbean, which has the most negative scenario regarding access to food. Haiti sinks that area in regional data, given that according to a report published by the organization in 2023, 44% of Haitians suffer from severe hunger. Gang violence, the economic and political crisis and climate effects mean that 4.3 million Haitians will face acute food insecurity between August 2023 and February 2024. According to the latest analysis of the Hunger Hotspots of According to FAO, Haiti is one of nine countries facing risks of famine and is among the five with more than 10% of the population in the food emergency phase.
The Caribbean countries “have not recovered the level of income they had in the pre-covid period as a result of tourism,” recalls Lubetkin, who refers to the blow suffered by airlines and naval companies, which guarantee the connection of these countries with the rest of the world, both for travelers and for food transportation. Lubetkin affirms that the Caribbean practically imports 100% of its food needs and families in the region have had to face loss of income and increased prices of products. This has led millions to opt for lower quality foods, which influences the increase in obesity.
Obesity is, in fact, one of the problems that most concerns FAO. Lubetkin describes it as a “very severe” problem, given that 25% of the Latin American population is obese and 8.6% of children under five years of age are also overweight, while the world average is less than 6%. “It is no longer enough to eat, if it is not about eating well. In the world there are 730 million people who suffer from hunger and there are one billion obese, with the risks that obesity has on human health, with what that means for care costs. There is an economic reason. In Latin America and the Caribbean, eating a healthy daily diet costs $4, well above the world average, which is $3.60,” says Lubetkin.
The FAO representative affirms that the “economic gears” of deeply unequal societies, where wealth is in the hands of a small percentage of the population, makes a plate of quality food more expensive. Other factors affect, such as aid to productive sectors and education, which should help citizens choose a healthier way of eating. “It is not said that all those citizens who have a guaranteed daily income of more than four dollars necessarily eat well. The economic aspect is what weighs the most, and that affects hundreds of millions of people, but there is also an educational aspect that affects this process,” Lubetkin clarifies.
This expert of Uruguayan origin affirms that to improve access to quality food for the Latin American population, governments must invest in the transformation of agricultural systems, which includes taking care of the land so that it continues to produce food, managing high-quality seeds, good management of water resources and strong support for farm workers, but also improving the access of local producers to external markets, lowering the costs that fall mainly on the producer. Lubetkin also emphasizes reducing food waste in the region, where 12% of production is wasted. In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 220 million tons of food are thrown away each year, which is equivalent to 330 kilograms per person, according to the FAO. “If we could reduce waste—where productive, educational, health, infrastructure and logistical reasons come together—we would be in an infinitely better scenario in Latin America,” says Lubetkin.
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