Food insecurity in Brazil rises to 36 percent in 2021

On November 4, 2021, people collect fruits and vegetables discarded by street vendors in Belem, Para state, Brazil. RAMUNDO PACCO AFP SAO PAULO - The risk of people unable to afford food for themselves or their family in Brazil has gone up to 36 percent in the last 12 months, from 30 percent in 2019 according to a newly published study.

According to a new analysis of Gallup World Poll data released on Wednesday by the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian academic institution, it is the first time that food insecurity in Latin America's largest food producer has exceeded the world average since the data tracking began in 2006.

READ MORE: Hunger waits in wings with conflict impact.

Brazil is facing a dire situation, even though it is one of the world's top producers of agricultural goods. Food prices have risen sharply after Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, said Marcelo Neri, director of FGV's Social Policies Center and the study's author.

The highest level of the series, Neri told Reuters, is a worrying situation.

ALSO READ: WFP: 13 m people facing hunger across Horn of Africa

In Brazil, the highest level of food insecurity in the world is 80 percent, and the increase in food insecurity rose to 75 percent in 2021, from 53 percent in 2019, nearing levels in Zimbabwe, which has the highest level of food insecurity in the world, according to the data.

The study also found that the gap in food insecurity in Brazil was six times greater in 2021 than the global average.