Prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of food insecurity among Venezuelan migrant and refugee urban households in Peru

Abstract

IntroductionFood insecurity (FI) is a public health problem affecting many regions of the world. In Venezuela, the political, social and economic situation experienced since 2010 has caused a mass migration of its population to other countries, including Peru, which, in turn, may have limited access to and availability of food leading to a high nutritional burden in this population. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and analyze the determinants of FI in the households of Venezuelan immigrants in Peru.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using the “Encuesta Dirigida a la Población Venezolana que Reside en el País” (ENPOVE 2022). The dependent variable was moderate–severe FI (yes/no), which was constructed from an eight-item Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) to measure FI at the household level. Poisson log generalized linear regression models were fitted to assess the association between the independent variables and FI. In addition, the reliability of the FIES as a tool for measuring food insecurity in the target population was determined.ResultsA total of 3,491 households with Venezuelan migrants and refugees were included in the analysis. We found that 39.0% of Venezuelan immigrant households in Peru experienced moderate–severe FI. The determinants of FI included socio-demographic characteristics of the household head, and economic and geographical characteristics of the household. Regarding the FIES, we found that the inclusion of 7 of the 8 items had adequate internal consistency and its items assessed the same latent range.DiscussionThis study highlights the need to identify determinants associated with FI to design strategies that mitigate the consequences of health crises and strengthen regional food systems, making them more sustainable. Although several studies have evaluated the prevalence of FI in Venezuelan migrant populations in other countries, this study is the first to evaluate the determinants of FI in Venezuelan immigrant households in Peru.

Access to HIV/STI testing among male and female Venezuelan migrants in Peru: evidence from a nationwide survey

“…Nevertheless, only the latter study was nationally representative, and both studies investigated only HIV testing. Our findings are consistent with those of previous studies that have highlighted several challenges faced by this population, including difficulty accessing COVID-2019 vaccination [ 18 ] and food insecurity [ 19 ]. Conversely, it is important to consider the existing conditions for HIV/STI testing among nonmigrants in Peru.…”

Persistent Food Insecurity and Material Hardships: A Latent Class Analysis of Experiences among Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Urban Colombia

“…Other characteristics, such as age, gender, city of residence, and employment status were associated with class membership and consistent with findings on Venezuelan refugees and migrants in other countries, as well as research on Colombian citizens [10,11,29]. Cisgender women were more likely than cisgender men to experience almost all classes of food insecurity and material hardships.…”

“…Heterogeneous patterns of food insecurity and material hardships exist among Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia. These are both causes of external migration and are persistent challenges faced by Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia, as well as other host countries [10,11]. However, Venezuelans with an irregular migration status were more likely to experience the most severe patterns of food insecurity and material hardships.…”

“…Sharing its border with Venezuela, Colombia is the most significant receiving country in the region, with 2.88 million Venezuelans estimated to reside in Colombia [1]. Research on the Venezuelan refugees and migrants in other countries demonstrates ongoing food insecurity after relocation, with estimates varying from 39% to 91% in terms of food insecurity [10][11][12][13]. In prior reports, we estimated that only 7.9% of the Venezuelan refugees and migrants residing in four urban settings of Colombia were food secure in 2021-2022.…”

Using Respondent-Driven Sampling (RDS) to Identify the Healthcare Needs among Women of Reproductive Age Who Migrated from Venezuela to Brazil, 2018–2021

“…This massive migration was motivated by the unprecedented political, economic and social crisis experienced by Venezuela [ 2 ]. Multiple causes, such as the slowdown in the economy, falling oil prices, economic embargos, threats of political interventions and internal problems, which culminated in a lack of work opportunities [ 3 ], have resulted in a scenario of significant poverty, food insecurity [ 4 ], disease [ 5 ] and violence [ 6 ].…”