As the world grapples with rising food insecurity, a quiet but powerful lesson is emerging from Latin America: ending hunger isn\u2019t about choosing between relief and reform\u2014it\u2019s about doing both together.
\nRecent UN figures show that global hunger declined slightly to 8.2% in 2024, but that progress was far from equal. While hunger continues to rise in parts of Africa and Western Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean cut undernourishment from 6.1% in 2020 to 5.1%\u2014a notable drop that translates to millions more people eating enough.
\nAccording to the FAO\u2019s Chief Economist, Dr. M\u00e1ximo Torero, the key to this progress is a two-pronged strategy: one that protects people today through social support and builds resilience for tomorrow by investing in farmers and food systems.
\nAcross Latin America, countries have used targeted cash transfers, school feeding, and income support programs to help families through tough times. Programs like Brazil\u2019s Fome Zero and Mexico\u2019s Prospera ensured that low-income households could still put food on the table during crises\u2014be it COVID-19, inflation, or climate shocks. These safety nets are more than emergency tools. They create stability. They allow parents to keep kids in school and communities to stay afloat when markets fail.
\nBut relief is not enough. Latin America has also worked hard to empower its farmers, especially smallholders. Brazil has become a global leader in cereal exports, growing maize, rice, and soybeans that feed both local and global markets. Meanwhile, Colombia and Peru have built strong value chains in high-value crops like coffee, avocados, and quinoa\u2014raising farmer incomes and adding diversity to national diets.
\nThese results didn\u2019t happen by chance. They were driven by public investment in seeds, irrigation, rural infrastructure, training, and access to finance. And importantly, these supply-side efforts were often linked to demand-side social programs\u2014like buying school meals from local farmers. It\u2019s a smart loop: support families, support farmers, support systems.
\nOne reason this model works is that governments coordinated across sectors. Agriculture ministries didn\u2019t work alone. Health, education, and social welfare agencies came together to build a unified food system strategy\u2014something many countries still struggle to do. This approach, sometimes called \u201csmart resilience,\u201d helps countries bounce back stronger from shocks\u2014rather than just recovering what was lost.
\nThe world should take note. In many countries, the debate still lingers: should we spend on protecting the poor or investing in agriculture? Latin America shows we don\u2019t have to choose. For countries like Pakistan and others in South Asia or Africa, the lesson is to integrate\u2014not isolate\u2014our responses. Social protection must be flexible and inclusive. Agricultural policies must be climate-aware, market-linked, and smallholder-focused. And all of it must work together under one national vision for food security.
\nNone of this is easy. Budget pressures, shifting governments, and climate shocks will keep testing us. But Latin America\u2019s progress proves that hunger can be reduced with the right priorities\u2014and that governments can deliver, even in hard times. We don\u2019t need to start from scratch. We just need to start learning from what\u2019s already working.
\nUmair Nawaz is a policy and development specialist focusing on food systems, social protection, and agricultural innovation. Currently based in Islamabad, KOPIA, they work at the intersection of strategy, governance, and sustainability in global development programs.<\/p>\n
The writer is an alumnus of the Suleman Dawood School of Business at LUMS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the world grapples with rising food insecurity, a quiet but powerful lesson is emerging from Latin America: ending hunger isn\u2019t about choosing between relief and reform\u2014it\u2019s about doing both together. Recent UN figures show that global hunger declined slightly to 8.2% in 2024, but that progress was far from equal. While hunger continues to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-493826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article"},"yoast_head":"\n