Guatemala City, by Yuliza Muñoz -AGN-. Authorities of the Secretariat of Food Security and Nutrition -SESAN- met with specialists from the Integrated Food Safety Phase Classification -IPC- to analyze the different challenges to food security in 2024.
At the meeting, the Secretary of SESAN, Mireya Palmieri, and the technical undersecretary, Martha Salazar, received the coordinator and regional specialist of the IPC.
They discussed this year’s challenges in food security issues and the work program for the country’s IPC analysis of food and nutritional security.
Analysis system
The IPC system comprises procedures and tools that contribute to understanding food insecurity and facilitate decision-making to take appropriate action.
This classification has four main functions:
- Generate technical consensus.
- Classify severity and causes.
- Communicate for action.
- Quality control
The approach includes meta-analysis, convergence of information, and differentiation between food insecurity (acute and chronic).
Fighting malnutrition
The actions against malnutrition are included in the Ten Seeds of the Government’s Plan, which highlights the commitment to looking out for each person throughout their lifetime.
The latest IPC acute food insecurity analysis, published in June 2023, mentions that approximately 4.3 million people in the country are in an acute food insecurity crisis or emergency.
This analysis estimated that by September 2023–February 2024, this figure will reach 3.1 million people in phase three, which includes people in crisis. Therefore, it is a challenge that the security authorities are working to meet to contribute to the population’s well-being.
