Saturday, May 30, 2015

Latin America has reduced hunger with proactive policies


Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has halved the percentage and total number of undernourished people, according to the  Food and Agricultural Organisation(FAO)'s May 2015 report 'Panorama of Food and Nutritional Insecurity in LAC 2015'. While 10.9% of the global population is undernourished, it is just 5.5% in the case of LAC. Poverty has  declined from 2002 onwards, from 44% to 28% and inequality has also reduced in the region.

The region's success story is the result of the countries' political commitment with the fight against hunger at the highest level, a process which was underpinned by a general context of macroeconomic and political stability. 21 countries in the LAC region have active conditional cash transfer and other such pro-poor policies. With this commitment and success, the region has become an example to the rest of the world. The region has also become a pioneer with its proposal to complete eradicate hunger by 2025 through the 'Hunger Free LAC Initiative'. 

Hunger still affects over 34 million people and extreme poverty has risen in the last two years. 
Thanks to economic growth, increased public social spending and public policies focused on the most vulnerable, LAC has also reduced poverty and inequality.


The LAC region has more than enough food for their entire population and has become a major global food supplier.

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