Entre a megadiversidade e a insegurança alimentar na Amazônia Oriental: a alarmante situação do estado do Pará

Abstract

The objective of the article is to analyze the situation of food insecurity in rural areas in the North of Brazil, focusing the Pará State, considering IBGE data on EBIA in 2023. More specifically, food insecurity data will be analyzed with case study illustrations to demonstrate the tensions between increased access to food via purchase in parallel with the reduction in availability of food in territories due to the privatization of areas, exhaustion of resources and consequences of the climate emergency. The main conclusions point out that food preferences combine menus with traditional and ultra-processed foods, strongly influenced by the reduction in agroextractive activities and the supply of industrialized products in local markets; income from public policies is relevant in acquiring food via purchase, but also acts as credit resources and the promotion of agricultural activities; and climate change has a devastating impact on agroextractive activities, resulting in the reduction of native foods. Finally, it is considered that EBIA does not capture situations in which the food consumed comes from family production and reciprocal relationships that are common in rural Amazonia, such as flour, fish, açaí and native fruits.