Data or statistical facts on the situation and perspectives of agri-food systems and the impact of policies
25.8 million children in Latin America and the Caribbean face the consequences of El Niño, including floods, droughts, risk of malnutrition, exposure to disease and limited access to basic services.
A health protocol and additional health measures are being developed by Suriname's Ministry of Health together with the Pan American Health Organization to address potential effects of the contamination, with the approach also intended to cover other areas and rivers.
Several chemical substances were detected by the NMA in water and fish samples from the Saramacca River area; because the substances and their concentrations were initially not fully known, authorities advised against using the river water, consuming fish from the affected area, or coming into contact with the contaminated water.
Between 4.0 and 4.99 million people are expected to need humanitarian food assistance in Colombia during the projection period through January 2027 as the negative impacts of El Niño increasingly affect livelihoods. La Guajira and Chocó are expected to remain in Crisis, IPC Phase 3, due to weather shocks, localized insecurity, reduced production and income, and prices rising above general inflat...
51 of the 64 native maize races were preserved through 191 seed banks and seed houses established by the strategy.
More than 20% of forests and arable lands are degraded by erosion and unsustainable management (CAF, 2025).
50% of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon occurs on forest lands where the removal of tree cover is prohibited, showing that forest loss is concentrated in legally restricted areas. This situation reflects pressures associated with land-use change driven by activities such as shifting agriculture, cattle ranching, illegal and informal mining, and illicit crop cultivation, all of which significan...
58% of greenhouse gas emissions in Latin America and the Caribbean originate from land use, land-use change, and the forestry sector, highlighting the significant weight of these activities in the region’s climate dynamics and the urgent need to strengthen mitigation efforts (World Resources Institute, 2024).
23% of the world’s forests and 60% of global biodiversity are located in Latin America and the Caribbean, highlighting the region’s strategic importance for ecosystem and biodiversity conservation. This significant share also reflects the critical role of LAC in providing essential ecosystem services and in supporting global efforts to address environmental degradation and climate change (Worl...
7% of forest cover was lost between 1990 and 2020 in Latin America and the Caribbean, equivalent to 138 million hectares, highlighting the scale of landscape degradation in the region and the urgency of advancing large-scale restoration and conservation efforts (World Resources Institute, 2024).
