Ana Lucía González writes, in La Hora, about Guatemala being added to the list of ‘Hunger Hotspots’ compiled by the FAO/WFP. The report ‘Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, October 2022 to January 2023 Outlook’ warns that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in 19 countries or situations – called hunger hotspots – during the outlook period from October 2022 to January 2023. Guatemala is included among the 19 countries.
Errors in translation are mine.
Guatemala and Honduras join the most recent list of 19 countries identified as “hunger hotspots” according to the study: “Hunger Hotspots” published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Program (WFP), which warns that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in countries in Africa, Asia, and Central America (Guatemala and Honduras at 18 and 19, respectively).
The FAO-WFP study for the period from October 2022 to January 2023, issues an early warning for urgent humanitarian action in 17 countries and 2 regional clusters, since it is estimated that part of the population will probably face a significant deterioration of the already high levels of acute food insecurity, putting lives and livelihoods at risk.
Guatemala in Crisis
Guatemala ranks 18th on the list of the aforementioned study with an estimated 3.2 million people (19 percent of the population) at risk. They classify two critical states: in phase 3 (Crisis – requires urgent action) there are 3.1 million people, while in phase 4 (Emergency – urgent care needed to save lives and livelihoods), 0.1 percent of the population. “This represents a strong increase of 2.5 million in the same period since last year and 128 thousand people who could be in emergency,” the report details.
Part of the factors for Guatemala and Honduras described in the study are attributed to the sharp increase in fertilizer prices, combined with flood disasters that risk increasing inflationary pressure.
Malnutrition Increases
As an example, the latest report on acute malnutrition in Guatemala reports 32 children between 0 and 5 years of age who died of hunger and 15,566 cases detected in epidemiological week 36 (from September 4 to 10). Of the 32 deceased minors, nine cases are located in Alta Verapaz and 4 in Huehuetenango. In the same period (week 36) of 2021, deaths from acute malnutrition were 29 cases and 21,760 reported cases, according to data from the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security of the Presidency of the Republic (Sesan).
You can read the full piece, in Spanish, here, Informe FAO: Guatemala incluida entre 19 países con inseguridad alimentaria aguda.
You can read the full report, in English, here, from the ReliefWeb website, Hunger Hotspots: FAO-WFP early warnings on acute food insecurity, October 2022 to January 2023 Outlook.
Categories: Guatemala, Human Rights, Indigenous peoples, Land, Poverty, Racism, Report, Solidarity in Action, Violence
Guatemala Solidarity Network 
Post comments here