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Food systems and COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean

Impacts and opportunities in fresh food production












FAO and ECLAC. 2020. ​Food systems and COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean: Impacts and opportunities in fresh food production. Bulletin 11. Santiago, FAO.



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    The ongoing pandemic has threatened the food and nutritional security of millions of Latin Americans and Caribbean people. These interruptions in the links of the value chain of the agri-food system have resulted in greater food loss and waste. We are not yet in a position to say when the rate of contagion will decrease, or when we will return to normal. Such uncertainty makes it imperative to analyze how food losses and waste affect food systems, how how this can be prevented.
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    The agrifood sector is key in Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of contribution to the economy and employment generation. Hence, the interruption of food systems normal functioning can have severe consequences on poverty levels and food security. In this new issue of the newsletter we analyze the impacts of COVID-19 in the labour markets in the agrifood system.
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    Opportunities for Latin America and the Caribbean to Mainstreaming Nutrition into Agriculture 2013
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    With a population of 590 million, food security is an important challenge for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. Although the average prevalence of undernutrition in the region has decreased during the last decade, the rate of reduction is unequally distributed across countries and across households. Furthermore, the countries that have been the most successful in reducing undernutrition are now facing high overweight rates and obesity. Agriculture is a key economic and social sector for most LAC countries. Recently, however, the raise in demand for non-food products, such as biofuels, combined with higher market potential for LAC food products in developed countries has changed the dynamics of the sector. We show that countries in LAC where agriculture makes up a large part of the economy score poorly in terms of nutritional status of the most vulnerable groups, hence creating a nutritionalagricultural paradox. Improving the nutritional status of the most vulnerable populat ions in LAC requires re-thinking the agricultural and food systems, to turn local agriculture and food production into a pathway to mitigate food insecurity in a sustainable manner. Expanding agricultural incomes and food production is necessary but not sufficient for food security; to achieve the latter, high quality food (in terms of diversity, nutrient content and safety) should be made both accessible and affordable for the most vulnerable. This paper presents evidences, cross-cutting princi ples, lessons learned, best practices and a set of tools to help policy makers to mainstream nutrition into agricultural sector policies and investments in LAC.

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