The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that the food security of Colombia’s poor could deteriorate in the coming months.
The FAO added Colombia to a list of 20 “hunger hotspots” where people would be at risk of acute food insecurity in the coming three months.
Political instability, the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing migration from Venezuela threaten to erode food security in Colombia, according to the UN agency.
Food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further in Colombia over the coming months due to a combination of political instability, economic challenges and the ongoing impact of the regional migratory crisis amplified by internal displacement.
Food and Agriculture Organization
The FAO estimated that 7.3 million people in Colombia are food insecure. More than 1 million of these people are Venezuelan migrants.
According to a study of the National Food Bank Network, 54% of people in Colombia were food insecure last year.
Almost 30% of Colombians did not have enough money for three meals a day, statistics agency DANE said in its latest report on poverty.
The FAO recommended a number of emergency response measures to prevent a further aggravation of the situation.
Emergency response proposals
- Provide cash-based transfers and/or food assistance to vulnerable populations (both Venezuelan migrants and host population) in different territories.
- Provide food assistance and agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizers and materials) for the rapid, diversified and safe production of food in rural, urban and peri-urban contexts, to close the food gap of people affected by the conflict/violence, social crises and other shocks/disasters.
- Support Venezuelan migrants and host communities in bordering rural areas, by rehabilitating water systems, establishing areas for rapid food production and supporting rapid fodder production (fodder banks, protein banks and live fences).
- Provide emergency veterinary medical care and delivery of feed for animals, to recover the surviving livestock and avoid further losses and damage to productive livestock assets.
Food and Agriculture Organization
Agriculture Minister Rodolfo Zea told media that the government was “surprised” by the FAO report and claimed there was no food crisis in the South American country.
