A recent report from the UN, published this Monday, highlighted the consequences of climate change in Latin America.
This is The Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition 2024. The report explains that climate variability and extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, and storms reduce agricultural productivity.
This also disrupts food supply chains, leading to price increases and affecting food environments.
Climate Change in Latin America: the second most exposed region
Drought and extreme weather events have direct consequences.
This makes Latin America and the Caribbean the second most exposed region in the world to extreme weather events after Asia.
In this continent, at least 20 countries, 74% of those analyzed, face a high frequency of such events, indicating significant exposure impacting food security.
Extreme weather events jeopardize the achievements made in reducing hunger and malnutrition in the region.
Alarming Figures
According to the report, between 2019 and 2023, the prevalence of undernourishment increased by 1.5 percentage points in all countries affected by climate variability and extremes.
The situation is worse in countries experiencing economic recessions. The most vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected because they have fewer resources to adapt.
41 million people in the region suffered from hunger in 2023, indicating a decrease of 2.9 million people from 2022 and 4.3 million people from 2021.
By Regions
Despite regional progress, there are also differences among subregions. The prevalence of hunger has been increasing in the past two years in the Caribbean, reaching 17.2%, while remaining relatively unchanged in Mesoamerica at 5.8%.
Latin America, the second most affected region.
Regarding moderate or severe food insecurity, the region also showed progress for the second consecutive year, falling below the global average for the first time in 10 years.
In total, according to the report, 187.6 million people in the region experienced food insecurity, 19.7 million fewer than in 2022 and 37.3 million fewer than in 2021.
Children, the most vulnerable group
Food insecurity affects certain population groups more pronouncedly, such as rural communities and women.
The gender gap in Latin America and the Caribbean remains higher than the global average.
Regarding malnutrition, the report states that stunted growth affected 22.3% of children under 5 worldwide in 2022.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the prevalence was estimated at 11.5%, significantly below the global average. However, the region’s progress has slowed in recent years.
Call to Accelerate Action
The report emphasizes the urgent need to accelerate action to develop resilience within agri-food systems, critical for the region’s progress towards eliminating hunger and malnutrition in all its forms.
“This resilience allows for anticipating, preventing, absorbing, adapting, and transforming, positively, efficiently, and effectively in the face of various risks, including challenges associated with climate change and extreme events,” said Mario Lubetkin, Deputy Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Additionally, the long-term sustainability of agri-food systems must be ensured, states the report.
According to Lubetkin, it is important to “implement a comprehensive response based on policies and actions designed to strengthen the capacity of agri-food systems.”
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