St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is among the countries in the region with about one-third of its population having to endure moderate or severe food insecurity during the 2020–2022 triennium.
This was revealed in the FAO regional overview of food security and nutrition for 2023.
On the other end, the report stated that SVG was among the countries that had shown a reduction in cases of anemia among women of reproductive age.
Latin America and the Caribbean present considerable differences in terms of the prevalence of undernourishment at the national level during the 2020–2022 period.
In the Caribbean sub region, Haiti had a prevalence of undernourishment of 45 percent, representing a total of 5.1 million people.
At the opposite end of the scale in the sub region are Barbados and Cuba, with a prevalence of hunger below 2.5 percent, Dominica at 6.7, the Dominican Republic at 6.3, and St Vincent and the Grenadines at 3.1 percent.
The report stated that in the Caribbean, 60.6 percent of the population was moderately or severely food insecure in 2022. Although this implies an increase compared to 2021 of 1.1 percentage points, it is important to note that this prevalence was 4.8 percentage points lower than that observed in 2020.
The Dominican Republic had a prevalence of 52.1 percent, Jamaica had 54.4 percent, and Haiti had 82.6 percent during the aforementioned period.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the prevalence was 43.3 percent, while in Barbados, SVG, and Antigua, about a third of the population suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity.
At the other end of the scale, Grenada and the Bahamas showed the lowest prevalence, with 21.1 and 17.2 percent, respectively.
Among the countries in the region with a high prevalence of anemia in women of reproductive age, Haiti had the highest prevalence (47.7 percent), followed by Guyana (31.7 percent) and the Dominican Republic (26.4 percent).
Guatemala, with a 67 percent reduction, made the most progress out of these nations. For its part, Brazil achieved a reduction of 40 percent, while Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, SVG, and Trinidad and Tobago all reduced the prevalence of anemia by more than 30 percent.
The report said Latin America and the Caribbean are not on track to achieve the SDG 2 and WHA targets for hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition.
Despite reductions in both the prevalence of hunger and food insecurity in the region compared to the previous year, the figures are still above the world estimates and pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, persistent inequalities in the region affect the food security of the most vulnerable.
The FAO 2023 report noted that the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity was higher in women than men, and its incidence increased as the degree of urbanisation decreased.
The prevalence of hunger and moderate or severe food insecurity decreased between 2021 and 2022 in other regions of Latin America. However, in the Caribbean, the prevalence of both conditions increased, according to the report cited.
