Latin America and the Caribbean face a worrying outlook but with positive elements, with 41 million people suffering from hunger and one-third of the population dealing with obesity issues, according to the FAO's Deputy Director-General and Regional Representative for the region, Mario Lubetkin, in Honduras.
"Lubetkin highlighted that in the last two years, hunger has decreased, allowing 4.5 million people to rise out of food poverty, which necessitates strengthening public policies to further reduce these figures," he emphasized after participating in a meeting of Agriculture Ministers of CELAC.
In the region, 140 million people suffer from malnutrition, despite having the capacity to produce food for 1.3 billion people, Lubetkin pointed out. He noted that following a healthy diet in Latin America and the Caribbean entails a daily cost of $3.96 per person, while obesity affects 8% of children over 5 years old.
Lubetkin urged seeking solutions to eradicate both hunger and overweight issues as well as climate change, warning that Latin America is divided into three distinct realities, which requires joint action from countries to prevent setbacks.
The FAO representative called for increased investments to tackle climate change, strengthen agri-food systems, and reduce food waste. In light of the severity of climate change, he suggested implementing insurance for producers to guarantee future production, even in adverse situations.
In conclusion, Lubetkin requested creating new conditions to improve food security in the region and highlighted that the value of food lost between harvest and sale exceeds a quarter of total food production.