Climate Change Deepens Hunger and Thirst in the Region.
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Rising heat in Central America is bringing harsher droughts, stronger floods, deadly storms, heat waves, and failing crops, leaving food supplies at risk.
Groups under the Central America Vulnerables banner are pressing governments to act quickly, including stopping the spread of open-pit mining.
They point to the damage caused by monoculture farming, agribusiness, and heavy chemical use, which hurt the land and weigh most on women and already vulnerable people.
At a recent meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, Darío Solano from the Dominican group RedAfros stressed that access to water is a human right, and that both people and nature must be given priority.
The groups are urging better wastewater treatment, water quality checks, tighter controls on extractions, and stronger community water systems.
They also want laws that protect soil, back artisanal fishers, improve local risk planning, and enshrine climate, food, environment, and human rights protections with gender and cultural awareness.
They warn that the climate crisis is making the most vulnerable even more exposed, with millions already lacking safe water.
“In Latin America and the Caribbean, one in ten children under five lives with stunting. Undernourishment and overweight coexist in the region, exacerbated by high exposure and vulnerability to climate events in the most affected communities. This double burden of malnutrition daily threatens the full development of children,” said Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean in a UN report published in January, 2025.
Source: PAHO.
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