The rise in poverty in some neighborhoods of Argentina brings with it difficulty in accessing food and hunger. According to the data released, the proportion of households below the poverty line in the country rose to 42.5% in the first half of 2024 and the proportion of the population below the poverty line rose to 52.9%. Argentina’s years of economic problems and high inflation continue to keep more than half of the population in poverty. Around seven in ten of those struggling with poverty are children.

The poverty rate, which has risen even higher than the data of the last 20 years, continues to worry people day by day. People’s household incomes are not enough to cover the cost of basic food needs.

According to this year’s United Nations report, the number of Argentines facing food insecurity has nearly doubled in the last seven years. One and a half million children in the country miss a meal every day. Consumption of nutritious food, such as meat, which has become more expensive, is declining. The decline in nutritious food consumption exposes children to scurvy due to vitamin C deficiency and eye diseases due to vitamin A deficiency. Some children also suffer from B12-based neurological diseases. Diets lacking nutrients such as zinc and certain vitamins can lead to stunted growth and a higher risk of disease, while cheaper carbohydrates have been linked to rising cases of obesity in Argentina. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said in a report published in September that food insecurity has increased alarmingly in Argentina in recent years. “The quality of the food poor children in Argentina eat is clearly deteriorating,” said Sergio Britos, a nutritionist and director of the Argentine Center for Food Policy and Economics Research.

The government of president Javier Milei, who came to power in December 2023, has acknowledged that there is a “food emergency”. In his first speech after coming to power, Milei said that the economic situation would get worse in the short term and that a strict austerity program was inevitable. Data from the Catholic University of Argentina show that poverty peaked at the beginning of the year and has since improved. Inflation is slowing but remains in triple digits on an annualized basis.

Source: Reuters

Photo: Independent