La Ni ña Weather Phenomenon Could Endanger Colombia ’ s Food Security

Family in a flooded village on the banks of the Atrato River in Chocó, Colombia. Credit: Jesús Abad Colorado/IPSBy Carmen ArroyoNEW YORK, Dec 8 2020 (IPS) After ten years without a strong La Niña weather phenomenon in Colombia, the climate pattern, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, could create a vacuum in food production and supply. Multilateral organizations, along with the Colombian government, are trying to implement measures to reduce malnutrition risk. Still, the population is already overwhelmed by a year of struggles that have deepened socio-economic differences. Starting in March this year with the COVID-19 pandemic and followed by the hurricane IOTA in November, Colombia has seen its malnutrition levels rise dramatically. The pandemic has left over 37,000 deaths and an increase of 6.4% in unemployment in October compared to the same month in 2019. (This percentage doesn’t account for informal workers—47% of the population, according to the country’s statistics department DANE). “[The socio-economic crisis] is coherent with a deepening poverty situation as highlighted by the latest official figures—35.7% of Colombian households were in poverty in 2019, already some 660,000 more than in 2018,” says Lorena Peña, the communications coordinator for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Bogota to IPS, going back to the numbers before the pandemic. Those data points are likely to increase—especially in La Guajira, Norte de Santander and Bol...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Climate Change Economy & Trade Environment Featured Food Security and Nutrition Food Sustainability Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Inequity Labour Latin America & the Caribbean Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Source Type: news