An overview of South American food insecurity

Abstract The scope of this study is to examine the status of Food Insecurity (FI) in each country included in the South American community. To achieve this and considering that it is a current and multifactorial problem, its four pillars were analyzed: food availability, access, stability and use. As a result, it is observed that the misuse of food is the most likely cause of FI in the South American community, however, the lack of availability and inaccessibility of food causes great concern in certain states of the subregion. The most probable origin is the inadequate promotion of good eating habits, in addition to misguided policies that hinder the correct production and/or motivation of the peasants to continue carrying out their activities in agriculture. This problem needs to be addressed as soon as possible as, although it originates in not having the money and/or the necessary nutritional habits, it leads to serious health problems for the inhabitants. The consensus reached is that it is important to enhance policies to eradicate FI in South America, starting with support for food production, and following that up with nutritional interventions that improve the dietary habits of the inhabitants.