Attachments
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Between June and August 2022, the World Food Programme (WFP) carried out the emergency food security assessment (EFSA) for migrant populations and host communities. In total, 7,097 surveys were conducted with households and travel groups, assuring representative samples for five population groups:
Venezuelan migrants with intention to settle
Venezuelan migrants in transit
Pendular Venezuelan migrants
Colombian returnees
Host communities
This assessment serves as a follow-up to the previous EFSA carried out by WFP for migrant populations and host communities in 2019.
The assessment data indicates that all five population groups suffer from high levels of food insecurity, particularly among migrants in transit (73%) and pendular migrants (73%), followed by Colombian returnees (54%), Venezuelan migrants with intention to settle (52%), and host communities (43%). An estimation of the total number of food insecure populations shows that migrants with intention to settle and pendular migrants are the two most affected populations. Each represent around 1.3 million food insecure people. This is followed by Colombian returnees (530,000 people), host communities (430,000 people), and migrants in transit (280,000 people).
Many migrant households live in precarious and unstable conditions and can only maintain regular food consumption by resorting to unsustainable coping strategies. These include selling property or possessions or relying on friends or community support to access food. In all the five population groups, the assessment showed that over 50% of households had skipped meals during the previous week and at least 40% only ate two or fewer meals a day.
In terms of food consumption, migrants in transit and pendular migrants reported significant gaps in access to food (poor or borderline food consumption, 55% and 38% respectively), indicating that their diets are poor both in terms of quantity and quality. For both groups, the majority (70%) consume fewer than three meals a day.
Although the majority of migrants with intention to settle, Colombian returnees, and host community households have acceptable food consumption levels, many are forced to apply various short-term coping mechanisms to achieve an acceptable consumption level. These include, for example, buying cheaper or less-preferred foods, reducing portion sizes, and reducing the frequency of meals. The majority of households reported that they spent at least half of their income on food. During the focus group discussions, the impact of food price inflation was frequently mentioned as a critical barrier in participants’ ability to satisfy their food needs.
Low consumption levels are directly related to socioeconomic vulnerability.
The majority of the surveyed households (around 70%) have incomes below the national poverty line, limiting their ability to cover the costs of their basic needs. Migrants with intention to settle still face many barriers to economic integration, including low education levels (half of heads of household did not finish secondary education) and the lack of legal status to work (half of migrants with intention to settle do not have work permits).
During the discussions with focus groups, migrants showed great difficulties in accessing dignified employment, even with legal work permits, and many have experienced xenophobia and discrimination.
These limitations explain why one in four (25%) migrant households resort to emergency coping strategies to satisfy their basic food needs, such as begging or accepting risky activities to earn money. This figure is also high for host communities (one in five), which indicates that many households among host communities are also struggling to satisfy their essential needs. These strategies are usually irreversible and may have a lasting impact on households’ capacity to face future crises.
Food insecurity levels among migrants tend to be worse in the border departments of Arauca, Cesar, La Guajira, Nariño, and Norte de Santander.
In these departments, the poverty and unemployment rates tend to be higher, and they are areas where armed conflict may restrict movement and exacerbate vulnerabilities. Pendular migrants and migrants in transit tend to move in regions close to the border and along the main migration routes, where food insecurity levels are consistently high. The geographical distribution of food insecurity is similar among host communities and migrants with intention to settle. For these groups, border departments reported the highest levels of food insecurity and the central departments reported relatively lower levels. Although some departments such as Bogotá Capital District and Antioquia have comparatively low levels of food insecurity, their large populations means that the absolute number of food insecure households is high.
In the short and medium term, we expect that the food security situation for migrants will deteriorate due to the global economic pressures that continue to increase the cost of living, which has the greatest impact on low-income households who spend the majority of their income on food and rent. In this context, emergency assistance must be maintained and extended to satisfy the food and essential needs of the five population groups investigated in this assessment. Food assistance must incorporate a nutritional aspect to guarantee that the most vulnerable groups, especially children under five years old and pregnant and breastfeeding women, can access a nutritious diet.
Likewise, strategies must be implemented that facilitate the socioeconomic integration of migrants and host communities through capacity development, trainings, links to labour markets, and other types of support to learn new skills and create stable income. These strategies should be directed towards groups that face the greatest barriers to economic integration, such as women, minority ethnic groups, and people with low education levels.