Hunger in Brazil reaches record levels due to pandemic

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The percentage of families who report having no money to feed themselves in Brazil had risen from 14% in 2014 when the country was removed from the UN world hunger map to 30% in 2019 and a record 36% in 2021, an increase caused by the Covid pandemic.

The Brazilian rate of so-called food insecurity reached 2021; it’s the highest level since the indicator began to be measured in 2006 when it was 20%, and for the first time, slightly exceeded the world average (35%), according to a study released Wednesday by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV).

According to the prestigious private Center for Economic and Social Studies report, food insecurity in Brazil mainly affects the poorest families, women, and people between 30 and 49 years old, in whose households most children live.

The study analyzed data for Brazil from a survey that the Gallup World Poll polling institute has conducted annually in about 160 countries since 2006 to provide a global comparison. It asked 125,000 people worldwide between August and November last year whether they had no money to feed themselves or their families in the previous 12 months.

According to FGV, while Brazil has made significant progress in the fight against hunger since then-President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (2003-2010) launched exemplary poverty reduction programs, the situation has worsened with the severe recession the country experienced in 2015 and 2016, and more recently with the crisis triggered by the Covid pandemic (2020 and 2021).

The rate of food insecurity in Brazil last year was similar to Argentina (36%), Paraguay (42%), and Mexico (43%) and much lower than Venezuela (72%), Ecuador (62%), Peru (56%), Bolivia (55%), and Colombia (52%). Chile (18%) and Uruguay (30%) are South American countries with the lowest rates.

However, among the poorest 20% of Brazilians, the rate of food insecurity increased from 53% in 2019 to 75% in 2021, well above the global average for this group (48%) and in line with the average for countries with the highest rates, such as Zimbabwe (80%).

The rate of food insecurity among women in Brazil was 47% (compared to 26% for men), well above the world average (37%).

For the wealthiest 20% of Brazilians, on the other hand, the rate of food insecurity fell from 10% in 2019 to 7% in 2021, a third of the world average in this segment (21%) and a similar level to countries such as Sweden (5%), the lowest in the world.

FGV clarified that the study does not yet reflect the price increase in recent months caused by the war in Ukraine (the annual inflation rate in Brazil is 12.13%) and that hunger in the country could be even greater if the government had not distributed subsidies to nearly 40 million low-income families during the pandemic.