FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean

Guyana Bureau of Statistics and FAO Implement the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to Produce Population-Level Estimates of Food Insecurity

31/05/2022

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2, which aims to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030 has veered off course due to several drivers such as climate extremes, conflict, and the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic;[1] and countries need high-quality data to measure their progress towards this goal. Estimates[2] revealed that four out of every ten people in Latin America and the Caribbean – 267 million – experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2020, 60 million more than in 2019.

In Guyana, the ability to measure the prevalence of food insecurity is now possible since the Government has signed on to the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) methodology. This process will be done through a partnership between the Guyana Bureau of Statistics (BOS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the collection, analysis and dissemination of such data.

FAO has developed FIES to measure the prevalence of food insecurity at the household or individual level in a given population and it informs SDG Indicator 2.1.2, which estimates the proportion of the population facing moderate or severe difficulties in accessing food. The FIES methodology is widely adopted in many countries globally because of its simplicity, and reliability to produce results using a set of eight questions about experiences related to food access.

According to Mrs. Vanessa Profitt, Deputy Chief Statistician (ag.), “the FIES survey module is being implemented through the second quarter Labour Force Survey (LFS) of 2022 by the Bureau of Statistics…and the information gathered will be used to assess Guyana’s progress towards achieving SDG 2 and revealing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food access." Indeed, the data collected will help the country identify existing food insecurity, track progress towards global goals, and inform decision-making and humanitarian responses that can alleviate hunger.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent flooding disaster have reduced access to food in the short term and while Guyana is deemed a net food exporter, access to nutritious food remains a challenge in pockets of the population. Structural challenges such as poverty, low wages, high unemployment (particularly among youths), and long-run low average real economic growth constrain particularly rural households and those from the indigenous community to access adequate nutritious food.[3] Additionally, as the country’s economy grows, and disposable income increases, unhealthy food choices are expected to drive an increase in the prevalence of obesity and its co-morbidities, namely, nutrition-related chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This will exacerbate what is already recognized as a public health issue in the country.

According to Maxime Luciéné, FAO Statistician for the Caribbean, “the granular data of the FIES will not only allow a comprehensive understanding of the food insecurity situation of Guyana, but will offer to decision-makers an excellent opportunity to take targeted measures to combat food insecurity due to the difference between gender, ethnicity, region or rural versus urban areas.

Guyana will join the ranks of other Caribbean countries that have started to collect FIES data and, by including FIES module to the LFS, BOS has taken a cost-effective approach to produce food security statistics.

According to Dr. Gillian Smith, FAO Representative in Guyana, “the country is on an ambitious development pathway to transform the agriculture-food system, and food security coupled with resilient production systems are a vital part of this vision. FAO has tremendous expertise in these areas and continues to provide technical support to Guyana to ensure access to safe and nutritious food for a healthy and empowered population.”

Guyana has significantly advanced its food security and nutrition agenda by achieving the World Food Summit (1996) and Millennium Development Goals (2015) hunger targets. Further, the country continues to improve its standing through advocacy and implementation of CARICOMs Regional Food and Nutrition Security Action Plan and Twenty-five by 2025 Strategy – Reducing CARICOM’s Agri-food Imports. While Guyana is self-sufficient in food, fish and meat, and food energy supply to meet the population’s recommended food energy requirements, access to nutritious food impedes the goal of adequate food security. The implementation of the FIES is a pathway that places the country a step closer to realizing food systems transformation and the right to adequate food for its people, eventually marking a return to the position of “the breadbasket of the Caribbean”.