Attachments
Key highlights
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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) carried out a household survey through the Data in Emergencies Monitoring (DIEM-Monitoring) System, between 8 May and 22 June 2024, to assess the agricultural livelihoods and food security situation for the rural and urban populations of Guatemala.
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Seventy percent of farmers produced maize as their main crop in the last production cycle, 6.5 percent produced beans, 5.6 percent produced coffee, and the remaining 18 percent produced other vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, onions and bananas.
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Sixty-two percent of the farmers surveyed experienced difficulties in agricultural production, with the highest reporting in the departments of Totonicapán (71 percent), Izabal (70 percent), Chiquimula (70 percent), Chimaltenango (68 percent), Quetzaltenango and Quiché (66 percent each), Huehuetenango (65 percent) and San Marcos (62 percent).
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Fifty-six percent of producers experienced insufficient or scarce water for irrigation or irregularities in the water pattern due to delayed rains resulting from El Niño; 35 percent experienced pest attacks; 15 percent had their crops affected by fungal diseases and other microbiological factors; and 10 percent had limited or no access to fertilizer.
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The reduction of productive areas for agriculture was reported by 50 percent of maize producers nationally.
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In the last year, 85 percent of families with livestock or agricultural livelihoods raised poultry, 7 percent raised cattle and 5 percent raised pigs as the main species.
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The strata most at risk of suffering a food emergency in the short term were households depending on agriculture as their main livelihood, as well as female-headed households, households identified as indigenous and those involved in agricultural day labour activities.
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Among the departments most affected by food insecurity were Alta Verapaz, Huehuetenango and Totonicapán.