By Giselle Alzate and AFP | 2023-11-15

SANTIAGO -- Hunger affected some 43.2 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022, about 6.5% of the region's population, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on November 9.

While an improvement from 2021, the figure was higher than pre-COVID statistics -- representing some six million extra hungry people from 2019, the agency said in a regional overview of food security and nutrition.

The FAO cited the pandemic, the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine, as well as economic slowdown, food inflation and income inequality as causes for the region's plight.

"One in five people in the region cannot access a healthy diet and malnutrition in all its forms, including child stunting, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity continue to be a major challenge," said the report.

The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean -- 37.5% or about 247.8 million people -- was higher than the global figure of 29.6%, it added.

Hunger worsens at home

The substantial rise in food exports from Latin America to China in recent years has triggered environmental and social conflicts, further worsening hunger in the region.

Over the course of three decades, the export of Latin American soybeans to China has surged 50-fold, according to Óscar Bazoberry, general coordinator of the Institute for Rural Development of South America (IPDRS).

"China is the world's largest soybean importer, accounting for more than 60 per cent of global trade," the South China Morning Post reported in January.

The food situation in Latin America is a result of global market conditions and a lack of consistent policy focused on food priorities and public health.

"What I can affirm, from what I know, is that the government, diplomacy, and what we call 'Chinese companies' are not acting to match their level of responsibility on land deterioration and social and environmental conflicts in Latin America," Bazoberry told Entorno.

China's interest lies in Latin America's protein products, including beef for direct consumption and soybeans for livestock consumption, said Bazoberry.

"The beef and pork market is increasingly demanding in terms of quality and types of cuts, responding to the new consumption conditions of the population in China," he added.

Bazoberry pointed out that during the past decade, China has been the destination for more than half of Brazil's exported beef, while Uruguay has reported exports of the amounting to approximately 85% of its total meat production. Shipments to China represented 56% of the total exported in 2022, according to Uruguay's National Meat Institute (INAC).

He expressed concern over Latin America's status as a food-exporting region and the worsening hunger problems within the region, despite being known as the "pantry of the world."

The region's reputation stems from its significant contribution to global food production, accounting for 14% of the world's total while having 12% of the arable land and only 8.6% of the world's population.

The irony

However, despite this abundance in food production, food insecurity in Latin America is a grim reality.

Bazoberry views the current situation as a structural problem with roots in government policies, wherein Latin America has prioritized becoming China's granary and selling most of its protein production. He deems this trend a nonsensical and "unjust situation."

Latin America has primarily focused its attention and subsidies on the agro-industrial sector, leading to the over-exploitation of land to meet growing Chinese demand. In contrast, Beijing has recently prioritized clear guidelines for soil conservation. This divergence in policy underscores the disparity in the approaches to sustainable land use between Latin America and China.

"When it comes to soil conservation, the Chinese are very strict because they understand that it is a vital resource for the future -- for our planet," Bazoberry added.

Countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Bolivia heavily rely on agricultural exports to China. Their eagerness to gain a foothold in the vast Chinese market has led to the destruction of soil fertility and expansion of agricultural frontiers, particularly in ecologically sensitive regions such as the Amazon jungle and the Gran Chaco.

This expansion has resulted in the loss of biodiversity, posing a significant environmental challenge for the region.