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CENTRAL AMERICA |
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News
Organizations Examine Guatemalan Drought,
Malnutrition
McClatchy/Chicago Tribune examines the
"worst drought in 30 years" in Guatemala,
which "has destroyed 80 percent of the
region's crops and claimed the lives of more
than a dozen children so far this year."
Malnutrition among children in the country
"has long been a major problem, and rates
are especially high in rural areas,"
according to the news service. "Almost half
of Guatemala's children younger than 5
suffer from chronic malnutrition, among the
highest rates in the world, according to
UNICEF."
The drought could worsen this ongoing
problem because it struck at a time of
"severe soil erosion," high food prices,
spreading disease and "a drop in remittances
due to the global economic crisis,"
McClatchy/Chicago Tribune writes. After
"reports of malnutrition-related deaths, the
government and aid agencies delivered
emergency food supplies to more than 300,000
families. And Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile and
other countries shipped in beans, corn and
other food staples."
The drought might have already damaged crops
of up to 410,000 families, Guatemalan
officials estimate, adding that some
families have lost almost 80 percent of
annual corn and bean yields, a total loss of
$80 million. Earlier this year, President
Alvaro Colom called the situation a "public
calamity" (Daniel, 10/8).
In related news, Worldfocus aired a radio
show that "explores the current eroding
conditions" in Guatemala and other topics.
Guests include Haverford College political
science professor Anita Isaacs; Stephen
"Carlisle" Johnson, the producer and host of
a TV show about Guatemala; and public health
and politics journalist Samuel Loewenberg. |
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