El Salvador Perspectives

For a significant percentage of families in El Salvador, putting food on the table continues to get more difficult.  Prices for food climbed after the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained high, and climate change and natural disasters put at risk the basic foodstuffs which can be grown locally.   Five UN agencies just released their 2023 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean .   The UN report describes ranges of food insecurity countries may face: The prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), is an estimate of the proportion of the population facing moderate or severe constraints on their ability to obtain sufficient food over the course of a year. People face moderate food insecurity when they are uncertain of their ability to obtain food and have been forced to reduce, at times over the year, the quality and/ or quantity of food they consume due to lack o...

Almost daily rainstorms in El Salvador this September have produced a variety of damages across the country. Although the country has not been in the direct path of any hurricanes or tropical storms this season, weather patterns have brought heavy rains time and time again.   With soils now heavily saturated with moisture, flooding, landslides, and falling trees become an increasing hazard. Fourteen people have perished in different parts of the country during September as a result of weather events. As of this writing, 28 municipalities are under red alert and the rest of the country is under orange alert.  In the past 24 hours , just as an example, there were 11 landslides, 6 fallen trees blocking roads, 2 damaged homes, 1 damaged car, 3 collapsed walls, and 2 fatalities in rushing waters on different sides of the country.  176 Salvadorans from 49 families were living in 10 temporary shelters. Farms in different parts of the country have reported agricultural loss...