FILE: Hunger in Colombia and Brazil

Hunger affected some 43.2 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022, about 6.5 percent of the region's population, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday.

The FAO cited the pandemic, the climate crisis and the conflict in Ukraine, as well as economic slowdown, food inflation and income inequality as causes for the region's plight.

“One in five people in the region cannot access a healthy diet and malnutrition in all its forms, including child stunting, micronutrient deficiencies and obesity continue to be a major challenge," said the report.