More than three million people suffer from food emergency in the land of the Quetzal. | Photo: EFE

Guatemala City, June 7 (RHC)-- Guatemala ranks as the second most food insecure country in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a report published by the Global Food Crisis Network.

The report notes that of the 22 departments that make up the Guatemalan nation, ten live under an emergency scenario, and 12 are classified in a situation of stress, including the metropolitan area of the capital, Guatemala City.

Meanwhile, the total number of people in crisis related to food rises to 3.73 million, which places Guatemala at the regional level only below Haiti; to which is added the fact that in the last four years, periods of economic instability led to an increase in the number of people in conflicts related to food.

The report also refers to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the loss of livelihoods, and the passage of hurricanes Eta and Iota in 2020, with the consequent loss of crops caused in the Dry Corridor area, as aspects that exacerbated food insecurity.

The report of the Global Food Crisis Network recognizes that in the Central American country there was a notable increase in remittances and the will to reactivate the economy in a variety of sectors; however, food costs rose between ten and 20 percent, as well as the increase in fuel prices, which caused the increase in the cost of public transportation.

This scenario reduced the purchasing power of households. The text points out that eight out of ten families purchase food products at low prices, and 50 percent of the Guatemalan population has reduced food portions.

The situation is worrisome because of the levels of anemia affecting women of reproductive age, and the incidence of low birth weight babies. Although in 2021 the Global Nutrition Report stated that Guatemala was making progress in reducing these problems, the situation could be reversed.