LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Regional overview of food security and nutrition 2021: Statistics and trends

1.2 Prevalence of food insecurity based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale

The Food Insecurity Experience Scale- (FIES) based prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity is an estimate of the proportion of the population who face moderate or severe constraints on their ability to obtain sufficient food over the course of a year. Moderate food insecurity describes the situation when individuals face uncertainties about their ability to obtain food and have been forced to reduce, at times during the year, the quality and/or quantity of food they consume due to lack of money or other resources. Severe food insecurity refers to situations when individuals have likely run out of food, experienced hunger and, at the most extreme, gone for days without eating, putting their health and well-being at serious risk.

In Latin America and the Caribbean during 2020, moderate or severe food insecurity affected 40.9 percent of the population, well above the prevalence recorded at the world level (30.4 percent). Between 2014 and 2020, moderate or severe food insecurity rose by 16 percentage points. More than half of that increase occurred in the last year alone, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as prevalence rose from 31.9 percent to 40.9 percent, representing an increase of 9 percentage points, the most pronounced in relation to other regions of the world.

In South America in 2020, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity was 39.2 percent. Between 2014 and 2020 there was a significant increase of 20.1 percentage points, rising from 18.7 percent to 39.2 percent in six years, thus doubling the prevalence of people in this situation. The variation between 2019 and 2020 was 9.1 percentage points

In Mesoamerica, moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020 was 37.5 percent. This prevalence had not shown significant variation until 2019. However, after a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence rose by 9.3 percentage points. Meanwhile in the Caribbean, the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity was 71.3 percent in 2020.^{4 4} In this report the subregion of the Caribbean includes Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. However, the countries included in the calculation of food insecurity in the Caribbean are the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which together represent 58.8 percent of the subregional population.

In relation to severe food insecurity, the prevalence in Latin America and the Caribbean during 2020 reached 14.2 percent. This represents a considerable increase since 2014 when only 7.7 percent of the population was affected. The greatest increase (4.1 percentage points) was recorded between 2019 and 2020 in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In South America, severe food insecurity was 12.9 percent in 2020, 7.5 percentage points higher than in 2014, which is an increase of 139 percent in six years. In the last year alone (between 2019 and 2020), the increase in the subregion was 4.3 percentage points. In Mesoamerica, the prevalence in 2020 was 11.2 percent, an increase of 3.9 percentage points from 2019. In the Caribbean, the prevalence of severe food insecurity was 39.2 percent.

In most of the countries of Mesoamerica, more than 40 percent of the population is affected by moderate or severe food insecurity. In Guatemala, the prevalence is 49.7 percent, in El Salvador it is 47.1 percent and in Honduras it is 45.6 percent. In South America, moderate to severe food insecurity affects 47.8 percent of the population in Peru, 35.8 percent in Argentina and 32.7 percent in Ecuador.

Between the periods 2014–16 and 2018–20, all the countries that could provide data showed an increase in their prevalence of moderate and or severe food insecurity. Specifically, in Argentina it increased by 16.6 percentage points, in Ecuador it increased by 12 percentage points, and in Peru it increased by 10.6 percentage points. Chile and Guatemala showed an increase of 7 percentage points as well as in El Salvador and Brazil where it increased by close to 5 percentage points in both countries.

Between the periods 2017–2019 and 2018–2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras showed the biggest increases in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity. All three countries showed a rise of more than 4 percentage points. Ecuador increased by 3.9 percentage points and Mexico increased by 3.5 percentage points, while in Brazil and Peru the prevalence increased by 2.9 percentage points in each country.

In 2020, moderate or severe food insecurity affected an estimated 267 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean, 60.2 million people more than in 2019. This could be explained partly by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2014 and 2020, the number of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity increased by 74 percent, rising from 153.8 million to 267.2 million in six years.

In South America in 2020, there were 168.7 million people affected by moderate or severe food insecurity. Between 2014 and 2020, there was a 121 percent increase in the number of people experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, which is an increase of 92 million people in six years. The increase in the last year alone was 40 million people.

In Mesoamerica in 2020, 67.4 million people experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. This represents an increase of 17.4 million people with respect to 2019.

During 2020, severe food insecurity affected 92.8 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is 27.5 million people more than were affected in 2019, partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Between 2014 and 2020, the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity almost doubled, rising from 47.6 million to 92.8 million in six years.

In South America in 2020, 55.6 million people experienced severe food insecurity. Between 2014 and 2020 in the subregion, there was a 150 percent increase in the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity. This is 33.2 million more people in six years. In the last year alone, the increase was 18.9 million people.

In Mesoamerica in 2020, 20.2 million people experienced severe food insecurity, an increase of 7.2 million people from 2019.

The experience of food insecurity did not affect men and women equally. During 2020, 41.8 percent of women in Latin America and the Caribbean experienced moderate or severe food security compared with 32.2 percent of men. Across the subregions, the difference is slightly more pronounced in Mesoamerica and less so in South America.

This disparity has been rising dramatically since sex-disaggregated statistics have been available, and it increased sharply from 2019 to 2020, likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the disparity in the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity between men and women in the region was 4.1 percent during 2014, compared to 6.4 percent during 2019, before jumping to 9.6 percent during 2020.