Top things to know
- The Dominican Republic has lowered its Prevalence of Undernourishment below 2.5%, meeting the UN statistical definition for 'zero hunger'.
- FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero cited aligned agricultural, economic, and targeted social protection policies as key drivers of success.
- Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean has dropped by 4.8% over five consecutive years of decline, though 30 million people remain chronically undernourished.
The Dominican Republic has become the sixth nation in Latin America to achieve statistical "zero hunger" after reducing its chronic undernourishment rate below 2.5 percent, according to the United Nations' "The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2026" report published in late July 2026.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Chief Economist Máximo Torero attributed the Dominican milestone to the reinforcement of agricultural production projects, targeted social protection initiatives, and supportive economic policies designed to protect vulnerable households. These integrated measures helped stabilize food access following the economic disruptions of the post-pandemic period.
The achievement comes amidst broader progress across Latin America and the Caribbean, where hunger levels have fallen for five consecutive years. Regional hunger has declined by 4.8 percent over the past five years, driven by post-pandemic economic recovery and expanded social programs. Despite these improvements, UN figures show that more than 30 million people across the region still suffer from chronic hunger, which the FAO defines as an insufficient intake of calories lasting for at least one full year.
The Dominican Republic is the most recent country in the region to cross the statistical threshold, which the FAO defines as a Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) indicator below 2.5 percent. It joins five other Latin American and Caribbean nations that have previously reached the benchmark: Uruguay in 2005, Brazil in 2012, Costa Rica in 2013, and both Chile and Guyana in 2021.
While the accomplishment marks significant national progress, multi-source reporting on the precise implementation details remains limited to initial summaries of the United Nations report. Nevertheless, the findings highlight how sustained social protection and agricultural alignment can drive measurable reductions in regional food insecurity.