GENEVA - A COVID-19-induced hunger pandemic in
Latin America and the Caribbean could threaten the stability of
countries in the region, the World Food Program said.
Latin America is the region with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases
globally, accounting for more than a quarter of the more than 17 million
cases reported by Johns Hopkins University. The disease is driving
hunger and food insecurity in a region already facing economic, social
and political instability, as well as drought and the start of the
hurricane season, WFP said.
The agency projects the number of people in Latin America and the Caribbean facing severe food shortages in coming months will rise to 16 million.
WFP Executive Director David Beasley recently visited a farming
project run by the WFP in Ibarra, in Ecuador's Imbabura Province.
In a video from the site, Beasley addressed the economic devastation
created in Latin American countries by COVID-19. He said many farmers
are barely eking out a living because of the pandemic, which is
preventing them from selling their crops.
"Just in the areas where WFP [is] in this region alone, we have seen a
substantial increase in over 11 million people that are marching toward
the brink of starvation," he said. "So, it is devastating, and it is
why we must act, and we must act now so that we can bring some hope to
people. Otherwise you will have political destabilization, mass
migration, economic deterioration, supply chain disruption and many
people will starve, in addition to COVID itself.”
The World Food Program said people in Haiti, countries along Central America’s Pacific coast — especially Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — as well as Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru are most at risk of starvation and death.
The COVID and hunger pandemics must be tackled together, Beasley
said, because they feed upon each other. The WFP is calling for $328
million to provide crucial aid in the region.
VOA