The food insecurity in Peru it would affect an additional 1.1 million people this year and would go from 15.5 million in 2021 to 16.6 million in 2022. That is, would harm more than half of Peruvians (50.5%)according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The new forecast represents a year-on-year increase of 7.1%, the highest variation recorded for our country since the report on the state of food insecurity in the world (SOFI for its acronym in English), according to Enrique Román, assistant representative of the FAO in Peru.
Factors behind the crisis
The spokesman for the entity attached to the UN points out that this year’s result is driven by elements derived from the coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 and the war between Russia and Ukraine, which resulted in a rise in the price of fertilizers and fuel spike.
Román explains that the aforementioned factors lead families to lose their sources of income and to migrate “to lower sources than they had.” According to his analysis, it sacrifices the quality and quantity of the food basket.
However, he stresses that the crisis is a global phenomenon and “no country is capable of handling all the factors” that cause it.
The Government’s Response
The FAO representative maintains that the Peruvian Government has had a timely response to the crisis, mainly through social programs “that have allowed people to access media and food.”
The cost of a healthy diet
The FAO estimates that, in 2020, 6.8 million Peruvians, 20.5% of the population, could not access a healthy diet. This as a consequence of the increase in the cost of healthy food in recent years. The average cost per day per person went from US$3.08 in 2017 to US$3.28 in 2020.