The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation of poor Latin Americans who suffer due to food insecurity many of whom had struggled to obtain sufficient nutritious food even before the outbreak.
Similar to other world regions impacted by hunger and poverty, Latin America has recorded even higher levels of food insecurity due to the pandemic with the most vulnerable being Venezuelan refugees and women.
Those in the first group fled from their country of origin because of a lack of food and basic services. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, emigration ceased to be the solution that many refugees were looking for in neighboring states. The UN estimates that as many as 5.4 million Venezuelans have left their country since 2014 when Venezuela was hit by a serious economic crisis. The refugees headed towards Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, and other Latin American states where they mostly found temporary and informal jobs. When the outbreak began in early 2020, many of them lost their jobs. Furthermore, as the vast majority of Venezuelan refugees do not have any legal status or residency permits in the country they currently live in, they are not eligible to receive any form of financial support from local governments which is normally distributed amongst citizens.
Women are the second most vulnerable group suffering food insecurity. They are particularly affected by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and have been subject to more job losses than men. As with the case of the refugees, many Latin American women lost their income because they were employed in informal sectors or in services. Furthermore, due to the pandemic, many governments took the decision to close schools, and women, therefore, had to take on additional unpaid work at home – i.e., caring for children and family. It is highly likely that the current crisis will push 118 million women and girls into poverty.
The outbreak has also increased the current levels of hunger in the region. According to the UN, in 2019 28.5% of South Americans and 39.3% of Central Americans experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. The UN is concerned that the outbreak will take Latin America back to the extreme levels of malnourishment recorded in the 1990s.
When it comes to Venezuelan refugees, the World Food Programme has conducted a survey according to which 7 out of 10 migrants living in Colombia and Ecuador were concerned about the ability to feed themselves and their families while the number of Venezuelans who eat only one meal a day or who had not eaten at all the day before is over twice as high as pre-pandemic.
Food insecurity and malnourishment in Latin America are not caused by lack of food as is the case in Africa as it is the most biodiverse continent on earth and leads to the export of agriculture and fish. The main problems are poverty and inequalities which prevent people from buying food. Moreover, many people work in the informal sector so when the pandemic started they lost their source of income. It is estimated that this may involve up to 130 million Latin Americans. The outbreak also seriously affected supply chains and food production that has led to an increase in food prices by as much as 10%.
