Action Against Hunger Warns of Potential Food Crisis in Guatemala

Thousands of families in Guatemala are facing severe food shortages due to a reduction in crops and rising food prices, warns humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger | ACF International. Over the past two years Guatemala has experienced a series of heavy rains and draught, which has led to the destruction of harvests and soaring food prices in local markets. According to the organisation’s latest report, Food Security and Nutrition in the Dry Corridor 2011, this is leaving thousands of families without enough food to eat. 

Over 90% of families in the dry corridor - the area that runs from Guatemala City to the border with Honduras, and reaches Southern Nicaragua - have very little staple foods left. The destruction of crops has driven the price of maize and beans up by 35% in recent months. An average person in Guatemala would normally consume a daily amount of 1.23 pounds of food; however people in the areas of Jalapa and Chiquimula now have only 0.9 pounds each.

"Every year we’re facing a period of food shortages in between harvests, from June to August, but this year the shortages have come three months early," says Maria Bernardez, a Food Security Expert working for Action Against Hunger.

This presents a major challenge for the traditional coping mechanisms of families which include reducing the quality and frequency of their food intake, migrating to find work and as a last resort, selling their goods and livestock. 

"It is paramount that families receive adequate support during this difficult time,” says José Luis Vivero, coordinator of Action Against Hunger’s programmes in Central America.

“Our programmes focus on establishing cash-for-work programmes in communities, which allows the most vulnerable families to make an income by participating in community work. Creating employment is more worthwhile than giving away food, as it helps communities to earn their own income in a dignified manner."

Action Against Hunger is calling on the Guatemalan Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (SESAN) to focus on detecting and screening children suffering acute malnutrition in the community who are most vulnerable to food shortages, and referring them for treatment.

Action Against Hunger is regularly reporting on the availability of and access to food, as well as food consumption in 60 key areas in Guatemala. The international humanitarian organisation is collecting information in the regions of Chiquimula, Jalapa and El Progreso, which made it possible to carry out this report.

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