Food insecurity in Colombia was reduced from 30% to 25% in 2023, according to the WFP

The food insecurity in Colombia was reduced in 2023 from 30% to 25%, according to the report presented this Tuesday by the World Food Program (WFP) of the UNwhich points out that there are still 13 million people in the South American country who are in moderate or severe food insecurity.

This is a reduction compared to 2022 of 2.5 million people in a situation of food insecurity, that is, they lack regular access to sufficient food, although in Colombia there are still 1.6 million people in severe food insecurity, which is the one that has had the least reduction.

“The improvement in food security can be explained by an important reduction in the rate of inflation in general and in food in particular (…) as well as a drop in the rate of unemployment (…) and a decrease in monetary poverty”, added the UN agency.

However, the WFP highlights that half of the households in Colombia (the 51%) continues in a “marginal food security situation” and they are susceptible to falling into food insecurity due to events such as the effects of El Niño or the economic slowdown in which the country is currently experiencing.

Vulnerability persists

“Although the economic situation has improved since 2022, high vulnerability remains with households resorting to survival strategies related to food consumption and livelihoods”is extracted from the WFP report.

The gap between rural and urban remains, as food insecurity rates rise to 31% in the rural and desert area of ​​La Guajira, in the north of the country, once again stands out as the department with the highest numbers, bordering on 60%.

The evaluation of ‘Food Security for the Colombian Population 2024’ It also reflects that with respect to food consumption there have not been many changes year-on-year and a 43% of Colombian households reported problems accessing food in the last six months, especially due to lack of money or because the costs of products increased.

Furthermore, the 4% of households, that is, about two million people, said they only ate one meal a day in the week before the survey.

And four out of ten households have had to go into debt to cover basic needs, so “Indebtedness continues to be a basic coping strategy to cover the needs of an important segment of households.”

Regarding the intention to migrate, the WFP survey shows that the 17% of Colombian households consider emigrating in the next 12 months, especially to the United States or Spain.