The pandemic has already killed nearly 214 people worldwide and more than 3 million infected. Faced with declines in economies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warns that hunger and poverty will increase in Latin America, so it recommends that different governments prioritize food and agriculture.

"It is key for governments to declare food and agriculture as strategic activities of national public interest, with the support of all state organs and the population. Keeping the food system alive is essential, so that the health crisis does not become a food crisis, ”explained Julio Berdegue, FAO Regional Representative.

The pandemic has caused an emergency at all levels of the States. The FAO report, prepared at the request of the Pro Tempore Presidency of Mexico before CELAC, establishes that a third of the population of Latin America and the Caribbean, prior to Covid-19, was already in “food insecurity”.

“Mexico, in its efforts to renew CELAC, as the only coordination mechanism that integrates exclusively the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, sought to generate this important alliance with FAO to give tools to member states with the objective that reduce the effects of the pandemic on food. ”said Efraín Guadarrama Pérez, National Coordinator of Mexico before CELAC.

Thus, it is recommended to reactivate the Food and Nutrition Security Plan (SAN-CELAC Plan), and strengthen political agreements to boost food trade among the countries of the region.

Within all the countries affected by the disease, there are more vulnerable sectors and activities, including indigenous peoples and peasants, who are largely responsible for generating resources through agriculture. But no economy, no matter how strong it is, has been left out of the damage.

For this reason, the FAO establishes that the problems that afflict the region and, in particular, this health emergency, do not know borders and, therefore, must be tackled together,

Impact on food security

According to the FAO, Latin America and the Caribbean, and international markets, have sufficient reserves to adequately feed their inhabitants in the coming months.

The report indicates that the main challenge in the short term is to guarantee access to food for the population that is complying with health security measures, especially for those who have lost their source of income.

The region has worsened its food security in recent years and the pandemic may impact especially severely those countries that have already been presenting a condition of food insecurity.

Along these lines, measures are suggested such as tackling the reduction of purchasing power to access food; FAO recommends strengthening nutritional support programs for mothers of childbearing age and children under five years of age, ensuring school feeding, expanding social protection programs and promoting healthy eating habits.

It is necessary to facilitate transport and economic access to productive inputs (seeds, fertilizers, feed, etc.) and to machinery and infrastructure. In order to maintain the availability of basic foods, it is key to maintain the operation of agricultural operations, with special attention to peasant family agriculture, but without excluding larger ones.

In Bolivia, indigenous and peasant sectors have asked the authorities for greater support with regard to family agricultural production and the trade of their products, to guarantee food in this emergency stage and in the subsequent one.