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Guatemala, Altaverapaz, Coban
UN: drought in Central America has pushed 2.5m people into food insecurity
Subsistence farmers, farm labourers and low-income families especially at risk as UN warns of ‘creeping humanitarian crisis’
A drawn-out drought in Central America has pushed 2.5 million people in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador into food insecurity, the UN warned Friday.
The drought in the three countries is “turning into a creeping humanitarian crisis”, Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN’s humanitarian agency, told reporters in Geneva.
Subsistence farmers, farm labourers and low-income families were especially at risk, with young children and pregnant women considered the most vulnerable, he said.
A full 80% of farmers in the worst-hit areas of El Salvador had reported losing all of their crops, while 75% of maize and bean crops in Honduras and Guatemala had failed.
The lack of rain has also resulted in the death of thousands of cattle.
“In the coming months, food insecurity is expected to get worse as families deplete their food stocks,” Laerke warned.
Read the full article: The Guardian
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