Hunger grows 30% in Latin America and the Caribbean due to the pandemic

Latin America it is the largest food producer in the world. At the beginning of the century it surpassed North America and by 2024 the net trade of its agricultural products is expected to triple the value reached two decades ago. Experts estimate that the region could feed the hungry 10 times. However, the opposite is true. In 2020, 59.7 million people, 30% more than the previous year, suffered from hunger in the region, the highest number in the last 20 years. In addition, four out of 10 people – approximately 267 million – experienced food insecurity moderate or severe in 2020, about 60 million more than in 2019. In South America alone, 167.8 million people were exposed to this situation. Between 2014 and 2020, the indicator grew by 121%.

The pandemic has exacerbated the pre-existing economic crisis, as well as the most visible inequalities. The data, taken from a report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Food Program and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) presented this Tuesday, offer a stark panorama. Food insecurity goes back to levels of 21 years ago.

On another scale of greater suffering, 14% of the regional population has spent a day or more without eating in the middle of confinement. “We must say it loud and clear: Latin America and the Caribbean faces a critical situation in terms of its food security. There has been an increase of almost 79% in the number of hungry people between 2014 and 2020,” remarked the regional representative of the FAO, Julio Berdegué, when summarizing what happened during the last six years.

Food insecurity has not affected people in the same way. 41.8% of women they lived with moderate or severe conditions, compared to 32.2% of men. This disparity had been growing for the past six years.

Malnutrition and obesity

The scourges do not end here. “In Latin America and the Caribbean, covid-19 has worsened malnutrition crisis. With the services disrupted and livelihoods devastated, families have a harder time putting healthy food on the table, leaving many children hungry and others with overweight“, remarked Jean Gough, UNICEF representative.

The report is conclusive in that regard. 106 million people, that is, one in four adults, suffer from obesity and overweight in Latin America and the Caribbean. Between 2000 and 2016, an increase of 7.2 percentage points has been computed in South America and 9.5 percentage points in the Caribbean. In turn, the overweight child It has also been on the rise for 20 years: 3.9 million children – 7.5% of those under the age of five – were overweight during the first year of the pandemic, which is almost two percentage points above of the world average. Gough pointed out in this regard that for minors to “grow up healthy”, it is necessary to ensure that “all families have access to nutritious and affordable food“.

The UN report is exhaustive: “urgent action” is needed to halt the rise in disorders. Countries, he stresses, have to “transform their agri-food systems and make them more efficient, resilient, inclusive and sustainable.”

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Wasted food

Hunger bears the mark of social inequality, with the addition of a structural inefficiency to combat it. The FAO itself said months ago that 1.030 million tons of food are thrown into the garbage every year in the world. It is about 17% of all available food. In Latin America 348,000 tons of food are lost per day, which represents 127 million tons per year. A recent Summit on Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean, held virtually, realized that these figures could be higher because many countries do not measure exactly how much is lost and wasted.