Hunger in world grain warehouse: Severe food insecurity in Argentina has doubled in five years

The growth of poverty in Argentina has been going on without interruption for decades, with progress over some periods, but it has significantly worsened over the past five years, especially with the corona virus infection.. Thus, an agricultural export country that produces food for 400 million people, more than 10% of its population lives in severe food insecurity.

This is demonstrated by the recent regional panorama of food and nutrition protection for Latin America and the Caribbean, carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). That is what the international organization there points out Between 2018 and 2020, 5.7 million people in the country were in severe food insecurity. Basically, this means that 12.6% of the national population does not eat one or more meals a day because they cannot get enough food.

The severity of the situation is exacerbated by the rapid jump in the number of people in food insecurity over the past five years. According to the FAO, that number has doubled in Argentina to date, with 2.5 million people suffering from severe malnutrition between 2014 and 2016, up from 5.8% at the time.

Although this is a problem in the regional context, it is a matter of concern that Argentina did this at a higher level than was recorded in South America and Latin America and the Caribbean.. In South America, for example, the proportion of people living in food insecurity rose from 6% to 9.8%, and in Latin America and the Caribbean from 8.1% to 11.3%. In other words, the increase in Argentina with this vulnerable population has not occurred across the continent.

If the percentage of people with moderate food insecurity is taken into account, the number is even higher. In 2014-2016, 19.2% (some 8.3 million people) were in this condition. Today it is 35.8% (16.8 million). These numbers are very similar to the region: it is 34.8% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 33.1% in South America.

Region

Opening the panorama, the report places special emphasis on the entire region. At this stage, In one year, and in the wake of the Govt-19 epidemic, the number of people living with starvation in Latin America and the Caribbean increased by 13.8 million, reaching a total of 59.7 million, according to the FAO.. Similarly, food insecurity affects 267 million people and 106 million adults are obese.

Faced with such a situation, the United Nations agency’s regional representative Julio Berdegu warned: “We must say it loud and clear: Latin America and the Caribbean face a critical situation in terms of their food security, with an increase of nearly 70% between 2014 and 2020.”

For his part, the Regional Director of the International Agricultural Development Fund (IFAD), the company that collaborated in preparing the report, Rosanna Polasty, Noted that “Despite the worsening epidemic situation, hunger has been on the rise since 2014. We need to address the deep-seated vulnerabilities in our diets and make them more inclusive and sustainable, and ensure that they provide well-being for the people who feed our communities.”

“Despite the worsening of the epidemic situation, hunger has been on the rise since 2014.” (Rosanna Polasty)

Thus, the work of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also contributed to the spread of moderate or severe food insecurity in South America between 20.5 between 2014 and 2020. Increased by percentage points, while in Mesoamerica it increased by 7.3 percentage points.

Worse still, severe food insecurity in the region (those who went without food or did not eat for a day or more) reached 14% by 2020, a total population of 92.8 million, the largest increase compared to 2014. It affected 47.6 million people.

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