Food supply and undernourishment

Abstract

In the global context, the domestic food supply in Latin America and Caribbean countries ranges from medium to high levels. This is largely attributable to increases in agricultural productivity and the expansion of international trade in food products in recent decades. Nevertheless, several countries –mainly in Central America and the Caribbean– lag far behind in terms of food availability, and this situation is reflected in high rates of undernourishment and malnutrition. This has much to do with the low levels of technology use and agricultural productivity associated with economies where this sector accounts for a large portion of domestic output, their modest foreign–exchange earnings from exports and the need to import large volumes of food. The variability of world prices for basic grains and coffee, natural disasters and weather conditions have all had a significant impact both on the profitability of agricultural exports and on import capacity. This, in turn, heightened the vulnerability of food security systems in the countries of the region and, in some cases, led to an increase in undernourishment.