FAO.org

Latin America and the Caribbean are undergoing a rapid nutritional transformation. Between 2000 and 2014, hunger fell by 50% but has increased again by more than 13 million people since then. On the other hand, overweight and obesity have not stopped increasing and already affect 60% of adults, a total of 262 million people and more than 4 million children.

This is a severe threat since chronic diseases related to poor diet, overweight, and obesity are the leading cause of death worldwide.

This reality is related to the rapid changes in our food systems experienced in recent decades. The offer of highly processed products has grown enormously, replacing fresh and natural foods in many cases.

Besides, people living in poverty are facing greater economic difficulties in accessing healthy and healthy diets. The conjunction of these factors has led us to a real nutritional crisis.

FAO estimates that more than 320 million in Latin America and the Caribbean suffer from one or more malnutrition forms. But this crisis can be an enormous opportunity to move towards new agricultural practices, with the production of nutritionally adequate food, to facilitate inclusive markets and expand the efficiency of value chains.

Our initiative works under two programmatic axes:

• Guarantee greater supply and physical access to nutritious diets by efficiently and sustainably increasing food production and distribution
• Facilitate economic access to food, improve information and consumption habits to promote healthy diets