Guatemala

For generations, the 2 million people living in Guatemala’s Dry Corridor have adapted to harsh conditions of water scarcity and seasonal food shortages. But in 2009, an extended drought pushed the region into an unprecedented food crisis, leaving nearly 400,000 people struggling to meet their basic nutritional needs. While emergency aid efforts helped stabilize the situation, the crisis laid bare deeper challenges—fragile ecosystems under pressure, multidimensional poverty, and unsustainable land use that fueled recurring cycles of food insecurity. Among the hardest hit were women and children, whose high rates of malnutrition posed serious long-term risks for health and development. Poor sanitation and inadequate housing further compounded these hardships.