The World Food Programme (WFP) on Friday expressed its deep concern about the current hunger crisis in Guatemala.
This follows the announcement by President Alvaro Colon that a "state of calamity" has been declared to tackle severe food shortages.
According to the United Nations food agency, women and children are in a desperate struggle for survival.
The agency adds that the combination of the world economic crisis, high food prices, a drop in remittances, unemployment and poverty, plus a lack of rain, has led to a situation that is threatening the lives of the rural poor.
WFP says that nearly 50 per cent of Guatemalan children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic under nutrition, also known as stunting.
Citing local authorities, the agency estimates that more than 50,000 families living in the so-called "dry corridor" in the eastern part of the country cannot access the food they need.
WFP also points out that the lack of rain has meant that crops of corn and beans have been adversely affected. |
