Peru’s paradox. From culinary hub to food injustice

 

Peru, a third largest country in South America, is known for its cultural and geographical diversity, from mountains and beaches to rain forests and deserts. With a population of 34 million people, Peru is classified as an upper middle-income economy by the World Bank, with over 70% of its population living in urban areas.

In recent years Peru’s capital city Lima has become one of the gastronomic capitals of the world, attracting the best chefs with trendy and lavish restaurants. At the same time, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) reported that half of the Peru’s population is food insecure, with half of children below 3 experiencing malnutrition. This makes Peru the most food insecure country in the whole South American continent. 

The poorest population in Peru is in the Andean highlands, where a large majority of the indigenous Quechua and Aymara communities live below the poverty line. It is reported that 75% of the population living in the rural areas experience hunger.

There are many reasons behind Peru’s food security problems, amongst them Government mismanagement, poor dietary habits, dependency on imported food and chemical fertilisers, climate change and poor infrastructure. 

First reason stated by the FAO report referred to the Government mismanagement and disconnect between agricultural sector, health, and social food program on ministerial levels. Policies drafted to address the food insecurity problems in Peru took a specialised and direct approach to each individual problem, as opposed to a holistically view with a cross-ministerial cooperation.

Another problem referred to a high dependency on imported food and chemical fertilisers by Peru’s farmers. The significant increase (as high as 4 times) in food fertilisers had an impact on Peru’s small-scale farmers which produce around 60% of Peru’s food, forcing them to reduce the use of fertilisers and impacting the scale of food production. That combined with Peru’s high vulnerability to climate change with its rainforest and tropical glaciers, puts people’s livelihoods and food security at risk.

To address social inequalities and poor dietary habits among Peruvian population, a series of programs and community projects has been introduced. Amongst them 3,500 “ollas communes” (soup kitchens) which provide warm meals for the most disadvantaged people across the country. They are now recognised by the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion as social organisation eligible for government funding. Another community project supported by the government to educate people on the importance of healthy food and eating is a reality show “Cocina con Causa”, also accessible via radio to accommodate those without an access to television. International support is also available with a number of International Fund for Agricultural Development projects supporting and educating small-scale farmers in the poorest areas of Peru.