Acre: more than 11% of households face moderate or severe food insecurity

Data from PNAD Contínua Food Security, released this Thursday (25), indicate that one in four Brazilian households presented some degree of food insecurity in 2023. This means that residents did not know whether they would have enough or adequate food.

In the North Region, the proportion of 16% of households with moderate or severe food insecurity is much higher to the others regions.

In the ranking, Acre appears with a percentage of 11.2 of moderate or severe food insecurity, surpassing the national average, which is 9.4. The state with the highest percentage is Pará, with 20.3, and the lowest is Santa Catarina, with 3.1.

What is food insecurity?

The IBGE, responsible for the survey, classifies food insecurity into three levels:

• Mild food insecurity: lack of quality in food and a certain concern or uncertainty regarding access to food in the future.
• Moderate food insecurity: lack of quality and a reduction in the quantity of food among adults.
• Severe food insecurity: lack of quality and reduction in the quantity of food also among children. In this situation, hunger becomes an experience lived at home.

Food security is classified as full and regular access to quality food, in sufficient quantity, without compromising access to other essential needs.

National scenario

Although the numbers are high, the number of food insecure households has decreased. Last year, 72.4% of households in the country were food secure. This number represents 151.9 million Brazilians.

The 2023 index is the second best for food security, behind only 2023, when 77.4% of households had access to quality food. This is the fifth series of results that IBGE produces.