Panorama of food security and nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017
The total number of persons that suffer from hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased, reversing decades of progress, even as overweight and obesity emerged as a major problem in all countries in the region of the Americas, according to the Panorama of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean 2017, published by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO). In 2016, approximately 42.5 million persons in the region did not have enough food for their daily caloric needs, a 6 percent increase – equal to 2.4 million additional undernourished persons. It will be very difficult for the region to reach Sustainable Development Goal 2 on eradicating hunger and malnutrition by 2030 if this trend does not change. While hunger levels in Latin America and the Caribbean remain low in comparison to the rest of the world, there are signs that the situation is getting worse, especially in South America, where the prevalence of undernutrition - a proxy for hunger - grew from 5% in 2015 to 5.6% in 2016. In Mesoamerica, hunger affected 6.5% of the population in 2016. Although hunger has not increased in the Caribbean, its prevalence is higher at 17.7%, with a peak at 47% in Haiti.