Guatemala tops the numbers of food insecurity in Central America

The document records 12.6 million people in crisis or emergency in four CASIC countries compared to 11.8 million in 2020, and of these, 3.73 million people represent Quetzal territory.

For the second time, Guatemala is only below the Caribbean country (4.36 million), followed by Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, warns the global registry part of the Global Network Against Food Crises, a coalition of the United Nations, the European Union, governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The provinces most affected are Quiché, Huehuetenango, Alta Verapaz, Izabal, Zacapa, El Progreso, Chiquimula, Jutiapa and Santa Rosa, most of which are located in the so-called Dry Corridor, an area highly prone to drought and lacking effective programs against hunger.

Among the most vulnerable groups, the report places subsistence families and subsistence farming with income losses due to the damage caused by the Eta and Iota storm in 2020, and small informal traders and agricultural day laborers, most affected by the Covid-19 epidemic.

According to the text, despite the increase in remittances and the beginning of economic recovery in Guatemala, poor and very poor families experienced a lack of employment opportunities, as well as an increase in the prices of basic foodstuffs by 10-20 percent above. Average cost in the last five years.

Added to this is the depletion of primary grain reserves, particularly in rural areas of the country, the increasing cost of food and fuel worldwide, and complications in the global supply chain.

In eight out of 10 families – study details – food is based on less expensive products, and in more than half of the population portions are limited.

Of the total Guatemalan population analyzed (16.9 million), 23 percent were in crisis or worse, and of the 22 provinces, 10 are classified in that term, and the remaining 12, including the capital, were in a stress level.

The report warned that while this scenario prevailed earlier this year, it is expected to continue to erode the purchasing power of poor households if immediate action is not taken.

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