University of Ghent

Faculty of Bio-Engineering
Functional Foods
Master in Rural Development: main subject Human Nutrition
Student: Elliot Lopez

FOOD AVAILABILITY IN VENEZUELA

April, 2011
INTRODUCTION
Venezuela Reduced Poverty: a fact or a statistics underestimation

Until 2008 president’s Chávez Government (President of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we

will refer as Venezuela) was proclaiming great progress towards achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Its “outstanding” achievement was its record in the fight against
extreme poverty.1 According to official estimates, during the previous government extreme poverty
was 42% for 1996. In the first semester of 2006 the number of poor families in the country fell to
12.5%. In the 2009, National Institute of Statistics figures indicated that the percentage of the
population living in extreme poverty had fallen to 7.2%2, and official figures show that in the 1999 to
2009 decade some 4.324.075 people emerged from poverty3. This good level of progress was
recognized by international bodies including the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC), which estimated that Venezuela’s poverty rate fell from 49.4% in 1999 to 27.6% in
20084. Provea NGO (Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos) in its annual
report for 2009, said that this fall was partly due to the development of social programs to distribute
the food at low cost, such as the Misión Mercal, whose estimated average monthly coverage in 2008
was 13 million people, around 45% of the population5, however we must not forget that this
calculations might be overestimated due the lack of report of undernourishment and due the
manipulation of statistical indicators from the official institutions.

1
For a complete review of the country’s results as regards the MDGs, see: http://www.sisov.mpd.gob.ve/metas_milenio/
2
Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación e Información, Venezuela cumple las Metas del Milenio, 2010.
www.minci.gob.ve/publicaciones@minci.gob.ve
3
Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea). Rafael Uzcátegui Venezuela, A new way to
make the same mistakes. 2010.
http://www.socialwatch.org/sites/default/files/venezuela2010_eng.pdf
4
ECLAC, Statistical yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2010. Social Statistics, Table 1.6.1. Poor and indigent
population, urban and rural areas. Available from:
http://www.eclac.org/publicaciones/xml/7/42167/LCG2483b_1.pdf
5
Provea, 2009 Annual Report. Available from:
http://www.derechos.org.ve/proveaweb/wp-content/uploads/informe-especial-alimentaci%C3%B3n.pdf
 1. Food availability

a) Calories Availability

Population: According the official census from 2001 the total population of Venezuela was
23.054.210 people, where 11% under 5 years old, 22% between 5-15 years old, 62% from 16-64 years
old, and 5% older than 65 years old (see Annexe 1). The projection of the distribution of the
population by gender and groups of age were for 2011 of 29.277.736 people, where 10% would be
under 5 years old , 19% between 5-15 years old, 62% between 16-65 years old , and 9% older than 65
years old6. The infant mortality rate in Venezuela felt from 18.9 children per 1000live births in 2000-
2005 to 15.3 children in 2010-2015, being expected to be 7.4 children for 2045-2050. The under five
years old mortality also felt from 24.2 children per 1000 live births in 2000-2005 to 19.6 children in
2010-2015, being expected to be 9.5 children for 2045-20508. These are indicators that could be
affected by food availability, however income distribution and food consumption between rural and
urban areas need to be taken into account, but this will be explain when we analyze the adequation
of consumed calories and limitations of food availability for vulnerable groups.
Total Calories: The following consideration of energy availability coming from food groups
and expressed in calories is being taken from the official publication of the Food and Agriculture
Organization through FAOSTAT7. The population considered for the analyzed data is from 2007, with a
total of 27.657.000 millions of people, where 13.893.000 male and 13.764.000 female8; however, the
National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela projected for the current year, 2011, 29.277.736 millions
of people, where 14.673.402 (50%) would be men, and 14.604.334 (50%) women9. We also consulted
the Food Balance Sheets (Hojas de Balance de Alimentos (HBA) emitted by the National Institute of

6
Total Population Projection by gender and groups of age for 2000-2015.
http://www.ine.gov.ve/demografica/salidadistribucion.asp?Tt=Cuadro202&cuadro=cuadro202
7
Food and Agriculture Organization. Statistic Division FAOSTAT, 2010.
http://faostat.fao.org/site/291/default.aspx
8
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2007). World Population Prospects: The
2006 Revision, Highlights, Working Paper No. ESA/P/WP.202.
http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf
9
Instituto Nacional de Estatística. Demografía. Proyecciones de Población.
http://www.ine.gov.ve/demografica/salidadistribucion.asp?Tt=Cuadro201&cuadro=cuadro201
Nutrition of Venezuela (Instituto Nacional de Nutrición, (INN)), to be able to make comparisons
between both statistics.
If we talk about the energy availability, according to the FAOSTAT for the year 2007 there
were 2632 kcal/capita/day, where 2176 kcal (83% of total calories availability) available were from
food of vegetal origin, and 456 kcal (17% of total calories availability) from food of animal origin.
According to the HBA/INN, there was 2523 kcal/person/day available for the same year in Venezuela,
where 2035 kcal (81%) were from vegetal origin and 487 kcal (19%) from animal origin.
Calories from Vegetal Origin: Within the group of food of vegetal origin according to
FAOSTAT for 2007 we found that the first food group that provides the biggest amount of calories is
cereals (excluding beer) with 975 kcal/cap/day (37% of total calories availability kcal/cap/day). Within
this group we noticed that the most important food items available in terms of calories, were wheat,
with 390 kcal and maize, 382 kcal/cap/day (15% of the total availability kcal/cap/day, for each item),
being approximately the same values for the calculations of HBA/INN, 2007 (see Table 2). According
to HBA/INN for the group of cereals for 2007 we found that the availability was 102.7 kg/per/year
compared to 132.5 kg/cap/yr from FAOSTAT, being for maize 42,3 kg/per/year compared to 58.4
kg/cap/yr from FAOSTAT; and for wheat 38.8 compared to 52.4 kg/cap/yr from FAOSTAT, however in
terms of calories available for the total calories, the percentages were approximately the same, this is
explained by that although there were differences in amounts of kilograms available, the availability
of calories coming from this items within the distribution of the total calories was similar, but it’s
necessary to consider other factors used for losses of gross and neto product (what is available to
what actually is bioavailable per capita in terms of macronutrients), and the use of correction factors
due differences of quantities of for e.g. fibre, according to specific food table composition used by
each organization/institute.
The second highest amount of calories available for the group of food of vegetal origin from
FAOSTAT is from the sugar and sweeteners group with a total of 413 kcal/cap/day, (16% of the total
availability kcal/cap/day), same percentage published by HBA/INN, 2007.
We noticed that the group of alcoholic beverages, of FAOSTAT, had a relatively high
availability compared to other groups of vegetable origin (e.g. fruits and vegetables), with 133
kcal/cap/day (5% of the total availability kcal/cap/day), and if we compare the availability published
for the same year by HBA/INN, 2007 we found an even higher availability with 164 kcal/cap/day,
however, in Venezuela, the calories available from alcoholic beverages are not consider as food items
available to cover energy population requirement.
 In relation to proteins, we found according FAOSTAT that 46% of the total daily protein supply
(35.10 g/cap/day) is coming from food items of vegetal origin, being this an important resource to
cover daily protein requirement of the population with a lower cost than protein of animal origin. We
also found that 62% of the total fat supply (46.8 g/cap/day) is also coming from food of vegetal origin.
From the HBA/INN, 2007 we found that 47% of the protein and 61% of the fat available calories were
from vegetal origin. (See table 1 and 2)
Calories from animal origin: According to FAOSTAT the total availability of protein of animal
origin was 76g/capita/day for 2007, the food group that had the highest total availability of animal
protein was meat with 256 kcal/cap/day (10% of the total availability kcal/cap/day) and follow by the
group of milk 111 kcal/cap/day (4% of the total availability kcal/cap/day). According to HBA/INN,
2007, the food group which had the highest availability from calories of animal origin was meat 236
kcal/cap/day (9% of the total availability kcal/cap/day) follow by milk group with 161 kcal/cap/day
(6% of the total availability kcal/cap/day). (See table 1 and 2)
As we can see the availability of calories from food of animal origin according to FAOSTAT was
17%, and for HBA/INN, 2007, 19%, being this an indicator that the amount of the total availability of
calories from animal origin was enough to cover protein requirements according to the caloric
formula proposed for Venezuelan population, which indicate that between 11 to 14% of the total
calories should be protein, with a ratio of 1:3 animal protein to vegetal protein, 20-30% should be fat,
and 56-69% carbohydrates10. (See Table 3)

Table 1. Food Balance Sheets, FAO. 2007

Item Food supply Food supply Protein Fat supply Caloric

quantity (kcal/capita/day) supply quantity availability
(kg/capita/yr) quantity (g/capita/day) in
(g/capita/day) percentage
(%)

Population: 27.656.000
Grand Total + (Total) 2632 76.00 75.10 100

Cereals - Excluding Beer + (Total) 132.50 975 25.40 3.40 37,0

Starchy Roots + (Total) 38.20 83 1.60 0.20 3,2
Sugarcrops + (Total) 0.70 1 0.00 0.00 0,0
Sugar & Sweeteners + (Total) 40.60 413 0.00 0.00 15,7
Pulses + (Total) 5.70 53 3.50 0.30 2,0

10
Ministerio de Salud y Desarrollo Social/Instituto Nacional de Nutrición (INN). Valores de Referencia de Energía y Nutrientes
para la población venezolana, Revisión 2000. Publication No. 53. Serie Cuadernos Azules. Caracas, Venezuela.
 Treenuts + (Total) 0.40 2 0.10 0.20 0,1
Oilcrops + (Total) 0.90 7 0.30 0.60 0,3
Vegetable Oils + (Total) 14.80 355 0.10 40.10 13,5
Vegetables + (Total) 52.90 36 1.30 0.30 1,4
Fruits - Excluding Wine + (Total) 76.80 98 1.10 0.90 3,7
Stimulants + (Total) 3.40 11 0.60 0.70 0,4
Spices + (Total) 0.10 1 0.00 0.00 0,0
Alcoholic Beverages + (Total) 96.90 133 0.70 0.00 5,1
Miscellaneous + (Total) 0 8 0.30 0.10 0,3
Meat + (Total) 75.80 256 27.60 15.20 9,7
Offals + (Total) 2.80 8 1.10 0.30 0,3
Animal Fats + (Total) 1.90 33 0.20 3.60 1,3
Eggs + (Total) 4.90 17 1.30 1.20 0,6
Milk - Excluding Butter + (Total) 87.30 111 6.20 7.00 4,2
Fish, Seafood + (Total) 16.60 30 4.60 1.10 1,1
Aquatic Products, Other + (Total) 0 0 0.00 0.00 0,0
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization. Statistic Division FAOSTAT, 2010.

Table 2. Venezuelan Food Balance Sheets, INN. 2007

Protein Fat CHO Caloric

Food
Food supply supply supply supply availability
supply
Group quantity quantity quantity quantity in
(kcal/cap
(kg/capita/yr) (g/capita (g/capita (g/capita percentage
ita/day)
/day) /day) /day) (%)
Population: 27.030.656

Cereals 102.7 963 27 3,6 204,5 38,2

Starchy roots and other 47 118 1,6 0,3 27,4 4,7
Sugars and honey 36.7 391 0 0 97.7 15,5
Pulses 6.3 44 4,2 0,3 6,4 1,8
Nuts and seeds 3 0,1 0,2 0,1 0,1
Vegetables 37.8 29 1,2 0,2 5,1 1,2
Fruits 79 1,2 0,9 14,1 3,1
Meat 65.9 236 24,3 14,5 0 9,4
Eggs 7 26 2, 1 1,9 0,3 1
Fish and seafood 12.8 24 4,2 0,8 0 1
Milk and derivates 111.6 161 9,5 9,5 9,4 6,4
Fat (animal and vegetal) 410 0,6 45,2 0,6 16,3
Spices 0.4 0 0 0 0 0
Estimulants 3.2 37 0,9 1,3 5,8 1,5
TOTAL FOOD 2523 76,8 78,6 371,3 100
Alcoholic beverages 99.1 164 1,5 0 9,5
TOTAL FOOD AND BEVERAGES 2687 78,3 78,6 380,8
Source: Hojas de Balance de Alimentos, INN. 2007. http://www.inn.gob.ve/pdf/sisvan/hba2007.pdf
 Table 3. Percentage distribution of macronutrients of energy values recommended for
Venezuelan population, INN. 2007
Nutrient Grams/person/day Calories/person/day Caloric Formula (%) Caloric Formula Recommended (%)
Protein 76.8 307 12.3 11-14
Fat 78.6 708 28.3 20-30
Cho 371.3 1485 59.4 56-69
Total 2500 100

b) Quality and quantity

Energy related: When we analyze the distribution of the caloric formula of macronutrients
available proposed by HBA/INN we notice that approximately 60% of the calories available were
carbohydrates, being this positively correlated to the recommended caloric formula for Venezuelan
population. According to FAO we have not the exact figures, but if we take the food groups which
contain mainly carbohydrates (cereals, starchy roots, sugar crops and sweeteners, pulses, vegetables
and fruits) we get an availability of 63%, which is also adequate to the recommendation for
Venezuelan population according to same caloric formula.
Fat related: From the recommendations to the Venezuelan population proposed by INN, we
found that cholesterol should not exceed 100mg/1000kcal/day, saturated fat should be <8% of total
fat, polyunsaturated fat <10% of total fat, trans fatty acids <5% of total fatty acids, consumption of
fatty acids -3 and fatty acids -6 should be done through food items such as fresh and canned tuna
fish, sardines, bonito fish, long fin mako shark, sea bass, and from fresh water fish; catfish and
tambanqui. Unfortunately we cannot analyze in detail the availability of cholesterol, saturated and
polyunsaturated fatty acids, trans fatty acid or -3 and -6 fatty acids, however we see that for 2007
the availability of fat in percentage from the caloric formula was 28.3%, this means almost the
maximum value for this macronutrient, so an adequate availability. From the total fat 61% was from
vegetal origin and 39% from animal origin, being this positively correlated for the recommended
cholesterol consumption, the availability from fish and marine products was 0.8 g/cap/day, being
Recommendation by FAO suggest that dietary fat should supply at least 15% of the total
energy, women of reproductive age should consume at least 20% of their energy from fat, the
consumption of cholesterol should be maximum 300mg/day, the ratio of linoleic to -linolenic

acid in the diet should be between 5:1 and 10:1. Arachidonic acid (ω−6 fatty acids) and
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) also known as omega-3 fatty acid, are particularly important for brain
development, and breast milk is a good source of these fatty acids. Infants who had an insufficient
intra-uterine supply of arachidonic acid and DHA and who are born with low fat reserves have
particular problems11. In the present analysis in not possible to know the exact figures of the
availability of this type of fat but by knowing that the percentage available correspond to the
recommendations and that the distribution between vegetal and animal fat indicates that there is a
higher availability of vegetal fat, being this associated to a lower consumption of food rich in
cholesterol, and with an daily availability for fish group of 0.8G/cap/day, although this is not a high
amount, in general terms we could say that the availability of fat is relatively adequate to the
recommendations.
Protein Related: There is a current revision about protein and aminoacids requirement from
the World Health Organization, that refers to a meta-analysis (elaborated for a group of experts)
which indicate that a median requirement of 105 mg nitrogen/kg per day or 0.66 g/kg per day of
protein, can be accepted as the best estimate of a population average requirement for healthy adults.
For protein 0.83 g/kg per day would be expected to meet the requirements of most (97.5%) of the
healthy adult population. These values for average and safe intakes are about 10% higher than the
value of 0.6 g proposed in the 1985 FAO/WHO/UNU report. While there are questions about food
intakes for older individuals, there is at present no firm evidence warranting different values for this
population group. Similarly, there is as yet no justification for any differentiation between males and
females. However, additional protein is recommended for pregnant women of 1g in the first, 9g in
the second and 31 g of protein/day in the third trimester, respectively, and/or additional food energy
with a protein:energy ratio of 0.03, 0.12 and 0.23. For lactating women, an average of 19g
protein/day is required, falling to 12.5g protein/day after 6 months.12 As we indicated before,
according to the availability from FAOSTAT, the availability of protein for 2007 was 76g/cap/day,
however is difficult to make a relationship for this recommendations since body weight is an
individual parameter that maintain a close relationship to growth and gender, also important to take
into account is the tendency of higher availability of food in urban areas than in rural areas which
might influence the protein consumption.
For proteins recommendations for the Venezuelan population from the INN, we found
specific quantities depending of the gender and group of age (see Table 4), but taking into account

11
FAO. Experts' recommendations on fats and oils in human nutrition. Food, Nutrition and Agriculture, No. 11, 1994.
http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/publications/fna/index.jsp?lang=en
12
World Health Organization. Protein and aminoacid requirement in Human Nutrition. WHO Technical Report Series 935;
ISBN 92 4 120935 6. 2002.
http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf
the percentage recommended from proteins of the total energy, we could say that according to the
availability of FAOSTAT for 2007 (17% of the total available calories) and INN (19% of the total
available calories) the quantity of proteins available for the year 2007 was adequate.

Table 4. Reference Values for Energy and nutrients for Venezuelan population by group of age and
gender, Revision 2000
Group of Age Energy Protein Energy Protein
kcal/day (g/day) kcal/day (g/day)
Masculine Feminine
0-5.9 months 660 20 620 19
6-11.9 months 830 25 770 23
1-3 yr 1080 32 1040 31
4-6 yr 1490 45 1450 44
7-9 yr 1850 55 1760 56
10-12 yr 2170 72 1970 69
13-15 yr 2670 91 2220 72
16-17 yr 3050 95 2320 69
18-29 yr 2960 84 2150 62
30-59 yr 3035 84 2235 61
<60 yr 2500 79 1975 73

Pregnant women 263 12

Lactating Women 500 15
Average
person/day 2300 65
Source: . Instituto Nacional de Nutrición. Valores de referencia de energía y nutrientes para la población venezolana.
Caracas, Venezuela

It is always important to take into account that the food availability does not reflect the real
consumption neither the distribution of the calories within a family group. This availability will be
subjected to the true “availability” in the market, purchase power of the consumer, as well as prices
indexes.

c) Food Accessibility related to Income

Food normative basket (nutritious food normative basket)13: is the statistical indicator, used
in Venezuela, that intends to measure the monthly cost of a food set that covers the totality of the
nutritional requirements (based on recommendations for the Venezuelan population), taking into
account the habits from consumption, the availabilities of the national production at the smaller

13
Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Venezuela.
http://www.ine.gov.ve/fichastecnicas/preciosyconsumo/fichacanasta.htm
possible cost. The calculation of the quantities of energy and macronutrients for the family type (5.2
persons) is done by calculating an average of the values recommended for women and men between
18 and 59 years old, adolescents (13 to 17 years old), children (0 to 12 years old) and elderly (older
than 60 years old).
To determine the quantities of protein available from the normative basket it is consider that
between 11-14% of the total energy should come from proteins and between 20-30% from fat, the
rest of the energy should come from carbohydrates14.
Conceptual Definition15: It is the value in monetary units (bolívares fuertes, Bs.F) of a set of 50
quantified foods (see Annexe 2) in such a way, that they cover the 100% of the nutritional caloric
requirement of the Venezuelan population, being accessible from the point of view of prices,
reflecting the nourishing habits of our population and adjusted to the potentialities of production of
the country.
Officially, the food normative basket is the defined one in 1997 by the Committee of Social
Statistics (OCEI, NSI, Family Ministry, FUNDACREDESA, AGROPLAN, IIES-UCV, MAC). The caloric
content considered per person is of 2203 Kcal. A family type is considered of 5.2 people. For the
calculation of the monthly basket price, is taken into account the monthly INPC (Indice Nacional de
precios al consumidor/National Index of prices for the consumer) of the correspondent year. The
INPC begins with a value of 100 in the year base of comparison (2007), and their percentage
variations are accumulated, reflecting the magnitude of the growth of the prices with respect to that
period or year base15, this means, how much more the families have to pay compared to 2007. (See
Table 5).
The food normative basket attempt to serve as reference for the formulation of social and
economic policies of national interest. In particular:
- Social policies: among others it serves to establish the minimum wage, to make
measurements of poverty, to plan the granting of subsidies to the consumer and the
nourishing security.
- Economic policies: in order to establish tariff policies, subsidies to the production and the
food distribution, etc.

14
Ministerio de Salud y Desarrollo Social. Instituto Nacional de Nutrición. Valores de referencia de energía y nutrientes para
la población venezolana. Caracas, Venezuela. Publicación No. 52. Serie Cuadernos Azules. Revisión 2000.
15
Ministerio de poder Popular y Planificación de Finanzas. Indicadores sociales. Disponibilidad alimentaria/Canasta
alimentaria.
http://www.sisov.mpd.gob.ve/indicadores/NU0200200000000/ficha.php
 The food set is distributed in the following subclasses:
* Derived cereals and products.
* Meat and its preparations.
* Fish and seafood.
* Milk, cheeses and eggs.
* Fat and oils.
* Fruits.
* Vegetables.
* Roots, tubercles and others.
* Seeds, oily and leguminous.
* Sugar and similars.
* Coffee, tea and similars.
Although many efforts have been done to keep the prices of the normative food normative
basket stable, such as PDVAL (Redes de Expendios de Alimentos con precios controlados), and
MERCAL (Redes de Expendios de alimentos con precios subsidiados), where prices of the food items
of the normative basket have been subsidized or sell with standard controlled prices, the indexes of
the value in local currency have increased substantially (see table 5). It is also important to take into
account that many of the food items consumed by the population are imported (almost half of the
total calories available, 44%, see table 6). It is necessary to comment that since February 2003, was
establish in Venezuela an exchange control system that only contributed to the devaluation of the
local currency, being a consequence of this the augmentation of food prices. Food producers start to
confront an unstable prices market, food raw materials prices were also increased due the control of
currency exchange, food producers couldn’t access freely (still can’t) to the matters they need (if
imported, such as fertilizers, technical materials, raw food products, etc.), and had to go through
bureaucratic procedures (ask of permission to the government for currency exchange), and this all in
the last years had traduced as a decreased of investment in the food industry, some of the small
industries had to close, which means less offer and more demand, contributing to an speculative
market, also a “black market of food” where you can buy food to a higher prices. As seen in Table 5,
the index of prices for the consumer have increased in more than 120% in a period of approximately 3
years, and the tendency is growing due the tense political situation, food prices rise but salaries stay
stable, which automatically indicates that the food purchase power tends to decrease.
Table 5. Variation of National Index of prices for the consumer compared to 2007 as base year.

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

January 100 103,1 133,9 166,5 213,9
February 105,3 135,6 169,1 217,6
March 107,1 137,2 173,2 220,7
April 108,9 139,7 182,2
May 112,4 142,5 187,0
June 115,1 145,0 190,4
July 117,3 148,0 193,1
August 119,4 151,3 196,2
September 121,8 155,1 198,4
October 124,7 158,0 201,4
November 127,6 161,0 204,5
December 130,9 163,7 208,2
Source: Banco Central De Venezuela. Información Estadística. Indice Nacional de Precios al Consumidor: Indices y
variaciones porcentuales. Serie desde Dic 2007 (Mensual)
http://www.bcv.org.ve/c2/indicadores.asp

Table 6. Source of the available energy from groups of food, 2007.

Total Calories National Importation National Importation

Production (kcal/cap/day) Production (%)
(kcal/cap/day) (%)

Cereals 963 567 396 58.9 41.1

Starchy roots and other 118 115 3 97.2 2.8
Sugars and honey 391 272 119 69.6 30.4
Pulses 44 9 35 20.9 79.1
Nuts and seeds 3 0 3 4.3 95.7
Vegetables 29 28 1 95.2 4.8
Fruits 79 74 5 93.2 6.8
Meat and eggs 263 86 177 32.7 67.3
Fish and seafood 25 19 6 77.2 22.8
Milk and derivates 161 81 79 50.7 49.3
Fat (animal and vegetal) 410 144 267 35 65.0
Spices 0 0 0 0 0
Estimulants 37 27 10 72.7 27.3
TOTAL FOOD 2524 1422 1102 56.3 43.7
Source: Source: Hojas de Balance de Alimentos, INN. 2007
 Minimum wage: is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may
legally pay to workers, in Venezuela is established by the national government with its publication in
the “Gaceta Oficial de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela”, which is an official communication
resource where laws, decrees, etc., are published.
For 2007 the minimum wage in Venezuela was BsF. 614,79 16, while the price of the food
normative basket was BsF. 1560,15. Which indicates that was not enough to purchase even the half
of it. In February 2011 the food normative basket price was BsF. 1.445,99 (if food purchased was
done in the supermarkets from the government, known as “Red Mercal”) but BsF. 1.488,68 if food
was purchased on regular supermarkets, which also indicates that the difference saved by acquisition
in official supermarkets was only 2.9%17, the current salary is BsF. 1.223,89) which represents the
84,6% of the food normative basket.
Food consumption surveys: Through the national surveys of food consumption done
between the last semester of the year 2008 and the first semester of 2011 we notice a tendency to
decrease the consumption of the most processed food products, such as crackers, carbonated drinks,
ready to make drinks as well as alcoholic drinks. The distribution of the consumption for the group of
cereals was relatively stable, but for the group of roots did slightly decrease. Sugar consumption was
stable, but the consumption of the pulses increased for most of the food items, being this used as
good substitution for animal protein. Vegetables and fruits consumption presented small variations,
the food group meat and eggs showed a decrease of consumption for the food item chicken, but the
rest of the food items showed small variations. For the group of fish and milk products were also
small variations, the group of fat instead showed a tendency to decrease consumption of these food
items, as well as for the group from spices, represented by salt consumption, which might be a
positive influence in the diet. For the group stimulants stayed stable, and the group beverages as we
discussed before, showed a tendency to decrease. (See Annex 3)

d) Food diversity, nutrient availability, accessibility problems, and causes of these

availability and accessibility problems

16
Venealogía. Aumento de 20% del salario mínimo enezolano (2007) a 614.790 Bolívares. April 30, 2007.
http://www.venelogia.com/archivos/1594/
17
El Universal. Canasta Alimentaria de del INE aumentó 29.42% en un año. March 17, 2011.
http://www.eluniversal.com/2011/03/17/canasta-alimentaria-del-ine-aumento-2942-en-un-ao.shtml
 Per capita Gross Domestic product (GDP) in Latin America and the Caribbean fell by 3% in
2009 in the midst of a generalized international crisis. This contraction impacted most of the
countries of the region, especially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, El Salvador, Honduras,
Mexico and Paraguay18. Real purchase power of the consumer has become the biggest limitation in
terms of food/nutrients accessibility, not only cause of the power purchase itself but also due the
speculative parallel markets that influence the augmentation of the prices substantially. As we
discussed before being the minimum wage BsF. 1.223,89, when we convert this amount to dollars
become to US$ 284.62 (using the official index for currency exchange of dollars, which is the only
foreign currency that can be exchange in the country), but we must not forget that the markets base
their prices to the dollar of the black market (currently BsF.8.5), making the power purchase even
smaller when we make the conversion of the minimum wage to dollars of the black market, we would
get that is US$143.98, as a consequence limited choices in terms of diversity due the prices. The
person that is responsible for the food purchase has the responsibility to buy food enough to cover
the necessities for the whole family, and the tendency is to buy bigger quantities of the cheapest
ingredients that provide energy (such as pasta, rice, beans, etc.), leaving the consumption of fruits
and vegetables as one of the last choices. However in Venezuela the availability of seasonal fruits and
vegetables is relatively good (depending of the rural and urban areas) and aloud fluctuations of prices
that sometimes favor the consumer, in this way, the consumption is directly influenced by seasons
and harvesting of food producers.
One of the main problems encountered to food diversity/accessibility is the lack of good
roads for transportation that aloud food reach rural populations, where normally the consumption of
fruits, vegetables and protein from animal origin is smaller due the small profitability, food providers
are not interested in starting business where there is lack of electricity, roads, and other facilities, so
only few providers go to rural areas, as a consequence the prices are higher where population earn
even less than in urban areas.

18
United Nations, and Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Social Panorama of Latin
America, 2010.
http://websie.eclac.cl/anuario_estadistico/anuario_2010/docs/Anuario%20Estadistico_2010.pdf
 Annexe 1. Official Census of Population by gender and groups of age, 2001.
Groups of age Gender
Male Female Total
<5 years old 1266429 1203652 2470081
5-15 years old 2622631 2541850 5164481
16-64 years old 7009266 7288169 14297435
>65 years old 504543 617670 1122213
Total 11402869 11651341 23054210
Source: INE, http://www.ine.gov.ve/poblacion/index.html

Annexe 2. Food normative basket, according to food products: all groups included, February 2011.

Cost for 5,2

Products Value of Products in the Market Consumption Cost/person (Bs.F) persons
Unit
measuram Bs. F
ent Quantity (currency) g/person/day Daily Monthly Monthly

GENERAL TOTAL 9,2 275,67 1445,99

CEREALS AND
DERIVATED PRODUCTS
Rice 3% broken ratio Kg. 1 4,02 50 0,18 5,31 29,82
Oatmeal and Derivated gr. 400 5,2 6 0,08 2,29 11,93
Pre-Cooked Corn Meal Kg. 1 3,25 110 0,35 10,45 54,97
Wheat Bread Kg. 1 7,68 40 0,48 14,29 51,37
Pasta gr. 500 4,17 55 0,4 12,12 67,26
TOTAL 1,49 44,46 215,35

MEAT AND DERIVATED

Grounded beef * Kg. 1 22,81 7 0,15 4,63 25,81
Beef flank Kg. 1 19,1 7 0,13 3,96 23,07
Beef Shank Kg. 1 17,98 8 0,14 4,26 23,09
Beef Liver Kg. 1 19,42 1.5 0,03 0,89 4,69
Pork meat Kg. 1 34,47 5 0,17 4,97 25,99
Beneficiated Chicken
meat 19 Kg. 1 11,33 30 0,33 9,92 52,24
Mortadella Kg. 1 16,91 7 0,1 3,03 15,55
TOTAL 1,05 31,66 170,44
FISH AND SEAFOOD
Fresh Tuna Kg. 1 36,82 3 0,1 3,05 18,4
Canned Tuna gr. 140 7,16 2.5 0,13 3,8 20,77
Corocoro Kg. 1 25,36 3 0,07 2,25 12,85
Sardines Kg. 1 9,32 3.7 0,03 1,04 5,85
Canned Sardines gr. 170 2,3 4 0,05 1,52 8,14
Tope shark Kg. 1 30,84 2 0,06 1,85 9,26

19
Beneficiated chicken: It is the complete body, after the butchering process, which includes
insensibilization, bled, scalded, plucking and evisceration, whose head must be cut concerning the first
cervical vertebra or atlas and will be obligatory its commercialization without white guts, trachea,
esophagus, lungs, spleen, uropygial gland, without feathers, and without feet, which must be cut at the
tibio-metatarsal articulation joint, being facultative the separation of the kidneys.
TOTAL 0,44 13,51 75,27

DAIRY PRODUCTS
Hen eggs Und. 1 13,15 16 0,2 6,03 29,81
Pasteurized milk cc. 946 4,05 27 0,12 3,45 18,23
Milk powder Kg. 1 14,84 20 0,25 7,36 44,42
Hard white cheese Kg. 1 33,31 20 0,61 18,42 97,76
TOTAL 1,18 35,26 190,22

FATS AND OILS

Mix Oil Lts. 1 6,29 28 0,18 5,27 25,76
Margarine gr. 500 4,87 12 0,1 3,06 15,92
Mayonnaise gr. 445 6,36 6 0,08 2,47 13,42
TOTAL 0,36 10,8 55,1

FRUITS AND
VEGETABLES
Fruits:
Bananas Kg. 1 6,99 120 0,83 24,86 132,75
Guava Kg. 1 10,13 11 0,11 3,32 17,06
Papaya Kg. 1 8,71 8 0,07 2,07 11,26
Mangoes Kg. 1 10,42 9 0,09 2,66 16,09
Melons Kg. 1 10,64 14 0,14 4,32 22,54
Oranges (creole) Und. 1 6,86 34 0,19 5,55 28,44
Watermelon Kg. 1 5,22 14 0,07 2,08 11,59
Ananas Kg. 1 11,4 14 0,11 3,42 20,76
Plantains (ripe) Kg. 1 8,06 70 0,48 14,44 84,11
Vegetables:
Pumpkin Kg. 1 4,96 8 0,04 1,16 4,94
Onions Kg. 1 19,33 8 0,15 4,44 24,36
Paprika Kg. 1 23,93 4 0,09 2,82 16,22
Tomatoes Kg. 1 14,86 15 0,21 6,42 36,21
Carrots Kg. 1 12,66 8 0,1 2,94 15,62
TOTAL 2,68 80,5 441,95

ROOTS, TUBERS AND

OTHER
Arracacha Kg. 1 19,78 18 0,34 10,25 45,01
Cocoyam Kg. 1 13,54 19 0,26 7,69 31,2
Potatoes Kg. 1 12,23 45 0,54 16,12 88,95
Manioc Kg. 1 6,31 35 0,22 6,46 27,48
TOTAL 1,36 40,52 192,64

SEEDS AND PULSES

Peas gr. 500 4,86 5 0,04 1,22 9,82
Black beans gr. 500 3,81 23 0,15 4,6 25,52
Beans gr. 500 5,05 4 0,04 1,11 6,6
Lentilles gr. 500 5,52 6 0,05 1,45 8,85
TOTAL 0,28 8,38 50,79

SUGAR, other
Sugar Kg. 1 3,74 55 0,2 5,91 29,96
Salt Kg. 1 3,38 5 0,02 0,5 2,59
TOTAL 0,22 6,41 32,55
 COFFEE, THEE AND
SIMILAR
Coffee powder gr. 250 4,72 6 0,14 4,17 21,68
TOTAL 0,14 4,17 21,68

Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística / Banco Central de Venezuela

Note: The stadistics have been done based on 10 Metropolitan areas of the country: Caracas, Maracaibo, Maracay,
Valencia, Barquisimeto, Ciudad Guayana, Maturin, Mérida, San Cristóbal, Barcelona-Pto.La Cruz and for a sector
nominated “Rest” conformed by 72 locations, where small cities and big towns are included, as well as some rural
areas of the country.

Annex 3. Households acquisitions by products in Venezuela, Second Semester 2008-First Semester

2010

2008 2009 2010

Second First Second First
Product
Semester % Semester % Semester % Semester %
semester a/: semester b/: semester c/: semester d/:
Cereals
Rice 6.371.401 96,07 6.363.969 95,27 6.431.767 95,26 6.446.365 94,40
Oatmeal flakes 3.217.648 48,52 3.939.601 58,97 4.054.576 60,05 4.342.688 63,60
Sweet crackers 2.398.316 36,16 2.424.783 36,30 2.437.027 36,09 2.315.030 33,90
Crackers 3.355.753 50,60 3.432.608 51,39 3.409.529 50,50 2.952.832 43,24
Rice flour 893.204 13,47 876.740 13,12 867.086 12,84 890.309 13,04
Oatmeal flour 672.123 10,14 532.623 7,97 540.162 8,00 553.944 8,11
Maize flour 6.288.425 94,82 6.319.057 94,59 6.414.397 95,00 6.334.240 92,76
Wheat bread 5.918.177 89,24 5.874.576 87,94 5.993.766 88,77 6.156.229 90,15
Pasta 6.209.733 93,64 6.228.416 93,24 6.321.257 93,62 6.450.364 94,46

Starchy roots and others

Arracacha 3.165.686 47,74 3.173.839 47,51 3.206.557 47,49 2.969.180 43,48
Yam 2.653.500 40,01 2.573.494 38,52 2.523.433 37,37 2.215.336 32,44
Malanga 3.332.766 50,26 3.178.046 47,57 3.256.321 48,23 3.167.639 46,39
Potatoes 5.921.345 89,29 5.832.629 87,31 5.928.260 87,80 6.015.750 88,10
Plantain 5.847.820 88,18 5.918.718 88,60 5.804.764 85,97 5.920.520 86,70
Manioc 3.940.390 59,42 4.062.852 60,82 4.042.455 59,87 4.015.151 58,80

Sugars
Granulated sugar 6.282.780 94,74 6.286.734 94,11 6.202.167 91,86 6.283.950 92,02

Pulses
Dry peas 2.511.104 37,87 2.513.474 37,63 2.642.194 39,13 3.153.415 46,18
Black beans 1/ 4.586.570 69,16 4.801.085 71,87 4.894.537 72,49 5.216.660 76,39
Beans 1.989.251 30,00 2.283.811 34,19 2.224.592 32,95 2.401.444 35,17
Lentils 3.081.258 46,46 3.640.366 54,50 3.778.700 55,96 3.951.071 57,86

Vegetables
Sweet Peppers 4.548.202 68,58 4.604.343 68,93 4.646.403 68,82 5.051.560 73,98
Pumpkin 4.202.074 63,36 4.196.956 62,83 4.267.142 63,20 4.324.964 63,34
Onions 6.253.788 94,30 6.321.781 94,64 6.326.247 93,69 6.496.709 95,14
Peppers 4.810.014 72,53 4.745.319 71,04 4.865.634 72,06 4.994.167 73,14
Tomatoes 5.993.977 90,38 5.895.802 88,26 5.938.775 87,96 5.786.324 84,74
Carrots 5.376.828 81,08 5.221.702 78,17 5.281.317 78,22 5.109.979 74,83

Frutas
Bananas 3.911.593 58,98 3.883.581 58,14 4.006.409 59,34 4.411.437 64,60
Guava 3.799.762 57,30 3.609.420 54,03 3.770.677 55,85 3.780.300 55,36
Papaya 3.342.285 50,40 3.418.023 51,17 3.345.069 49,54 3.775.770 55,29
Lime 3.946.126 59,50 3.642.732 54,53 3.898.878 57,74 3.905.328 57,19
Mandarin 1.577.089 23,78 1.996.812 29,89 2.197.678 32,55 2.170.198 31,78
Mango 1.123.195 16,94 1.852.257 27,73 798.038 11,82 1.844.271 27,01
Melon 3.472.823 52,37 3.724.400 55,75 3.808.477 56,41 3.843.528 56,29
Oranges 2.421.963 36,52 2.631.641 39,40 2.595.629 38,44 2.738.803 40,11
Watermelon 1.601.321 24,15 2.117.917 31,70 2.186.452 32,38 2.085.320 30,54
Pineapple 2.242.986 33,82 2.292.695 34,32 2.320.271 34,36 2.573.181 37,68

Meat and eggs

Pork meat 1.677.268 25,29 1.828.845 27,38 2.069.564 30,65 2.413.036 35,34
Chicken meat 6.330.882 95,46 6.203.137 92,86 6.252.063 92,60 6.203.013 90,84
Beef 5.780.766 87,17 5.921.714 88,65 5.994.128 88,78 5.981.367 87,59
Beef liver 1.550.066 23,37 1.313.585 19,66 1.446.773 21,43 1.653.920 24,22
Eggs (Hen) 5.933.397 89,47 5.862.400 87,76 5.922.264 87,71 6.225.863 91,17
Ham 4.199.918 63,33 4.292.979 64,26 4.346.266 64,37 4.725.845 69,21
Mortadella 3.321.703 50,09 2.878.284 43,09 2.928.241 43,37 3.607.550 52,83

Fish
Canned tuna 5.363.736 80,88 5.338.955 79,92 5.312.961 78,69 5.495.729 80,48
Fresh fish 3.109.244 46,88 3.173.563 47,51 3.212.103 47,57 3.206.485 46,96
Curated fish 654.524 9,87 1.016.663 15,22 678.092 10,04 1.283.807 18,80
Canned sardines 3.353.547 50,57 3.464.827 51,87 3.460.497 51,25 4.152.336 60,81

Milk and subproducts

Whole milk powder 5.586.576 84,24 5.660.489 84,74 5.818.083 86,17 5.743.878 84,11
Skim milk powder 390.598 5,89 388.735 5,82 398.129 5,90 362.329 5,31
Whole milk liquid 2.506.087 37,79 2.629.411 39,36 2.683.082 39,74 2.584.652 37,85
Skim milk liquid 1.150.039 17,34 1.134.597 16,98 1.135.988 16,82 857.622 12,56
Cheese (gouda type) 2.976.920 44,89 3.152.375 47,19 3.255.085 48,21 3.536.342 51,79
Fresh white cheese 6.164.655 92,96 6.190.593 92,67 6.309.007 93,44 6.343.382 92,89

Fat
Vegetable Oil 6.333.001 95,50 6.253.613 93,62 6.428.597 95,21 6.333.678 92,75
Butter 1.136.961 17,14 932.779 13,96 812.655 12,04 802.822 11,76
Margarine 5.884.601 88,73 5.919.931 88,62 5.965.807 88,36 5.724.884 83,84
Mayonnaise 5.586.290 84,24 5.476.978 81,99 5.499.903 81,46 5.673.723 83,09

Spices
Salt 5.450.482 82,19 5.475.206 81,96 5.457.719 80,83 5.455.775 79,90
Stimulants
Coffee powder 5.767.425 86,97 5.764.120 86,29 5.801.931 85,93 5.974.560 87,49

Beverages
Alcoholic beverages 804.285 12,13 824.858 12,35 836.755 12,39 683.025 10,00
Carbonated drinks 4.052.377 61,11 3.815.188 57,11 3.734.422 55,31 3.883.790 56,88
Ready to make drinks 3.042.253 45,87 2.540.384 38,03 2.747.680 40,69 2.521.475 36,93

1/: means any type of beans, included black beans

a/: Based on 6.631.697 households.
b/: Based on 6680125 households.
c/: Based on 6751959 households.
d/: Based on 6828602 households.
… : Information non available
FUENTE: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE
 2. Which groups of the population (see the household budget or food availability surveys)are
suffering from those problems in food and consequently in nutrition security and what are their main
nutrition problems (related to the nutrient intake surveys).

In Venezuela the Graffar classification is used as social indicator and then related to the food
consumption. The Graffar classification indicates social characteristics of a family, profession of the
head of family, level of instruction, the sources of familiar yield, the comfort of the lodging and the
aspect of the zone where the family lives, every category is evaluated based in points and the result is
divided in 5 main categories where Status I is the highest (wealthy families) and status V is the lowest
(poorest families).
In the food consumption surveys of Venezuela, Graffar classification is taken into account for
food consumption, and based in this statistics we found that variation between social classes is not
high, however there are more negative variations of consumption through the years for social status
V (less consumption).
When we analyze the apparent consumption per capita by social status (Graffar I to V) from
the second semester of 2008 to the first semester of 2010 (see Annexe 4) , for the status Graffar V we
notice that rice consumption, crackers (sweet and salty), rice flour, oatmeal flour and maize flour
have decreased. The fall in the consumption of these food items need to be taken into account due
the fact that these ingredients represent the most important food used to prepare meals and snacks,
for children under 5 years old. In the other hand we also found an augmentation of the consumption
of wheat bread, this might been explained due the availability of these types of food.
For the food items from starchy and roots such as arracacha, potatoes and plantains, the
consumption have decreased for the same status V, but for the rest of the food items have increased
(status V). The consumption of sugar has decreased. The consumption of all types’ pulses have
increased; this might be due the use of beans as main meal without the use of protein of animal
origin that is more expensive. In general terms the consumption of vegetables decreased, and the
consumption of fruits has been variable; in Venezuela vegetables and fruit prices fluctuates during
the seasons, but families from status V, with a lower budget and instruction level might prefer the
consumption of complex carbohydrates which can satiate the feeling of hunger easily and provide
more energy for the family. Meat and eggs consumption have reduced for this status V; significantly
for chicken consumption (from 92g the second semester of 2008 to 68g the first semester of 2010),
beef liver consumption, however, have duplicated, this might be explained due a price related
substitution. Fish group consumption for this status V have increased in all food items; this maybe
explained due the regulation of prices for the official food items (that forms part of the normative
food basket) and by the augmentation of canned fish products consumption. For the group of milk
and milk products we see variations where fresh cheese item consumption is the most important
reduction within this group, being this an important component of the food habit of Venezuelan
population. For the group fat, there is a general tendency to decrease consumption of the food items
evaluated. For beverages we notice an important reduction of consumption of carbonated drinks
(from 85.5ml the second semester of 2008 to 68,28ml the first semester of 2010), and with a
tendency of increasing in the consumption of ready to make drinks, based in powders that can be
diluted in water, which aloud families to obtain higher volumes for the price they pay, however this
beverages have no significant nutritional value.
For the status I, II and III the tendencies are similar but less accentuated. The most important
changes is the augmentation in the consumption of bread, more accentuated than for status V, for
status I,II, III went from 43,43g to 52,94g. Sugar consumption did not fall for this status groups, but
instead increased, and pulses behave the same as for status V, being this that all type of pulses
consumption have increased. Vegetables consumption have slightly decreased, but consumption of
fruits have, in general, increased; this might be explained due the fact that people from status I, II and
III have a better instruction level that allowed them to choose more accurately how to substitute food
items with an specific budget without sacrificing quality and variety of diets. The consumption of
pork, chicken and beef have decreased, and this might explain the augmentation of pulses
consumption, for the rest of the items of this group have increased, and this might be also explained
due the regulation of prices, since these items belong to the food items regulated by the government,
being these cheaper than regular meat. The consumption of fat and spices has been relatively stable.
The consumption of stimulants have slightly increased and the consumption of beverages did
decreased, but in contradiction with the status V, for status I, II and III the carbonated drink
consumption has increased.
As we can see through the Venezuelan indicators provided by the SISVAN system (Sistema de
Vigilancia Alimentaria y Nutricional/Nutritional and Feed Vigilance System), mortality rate by
nutritional deficiencies for children under 15 years old have decreased, this indicates that the food
availability and consumption have increased in the last years, although we cannot dissociate this by
social status we could assume that status V has been the most benefit from this increased food
availability, and therefore the most impacted in reduction of mortality for children under 15 years old
by nutritional deficiencies.
Graphic 1

Mortality rate by nutritional deficiencies, by groups of age. 1994-2006

Rate by every 100.000
habitants
200,0

180,0

160,0

140,0

120,0
>15 yea rs
5 to 14 yea rs
100,0
1 yea r to 4 yea rs

80,0 < 1 yea r

60,0

40,0

20,0

0,0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Data source: Integrated System of social indicators of Venezuela.

http://www.sisov.mpd.gob.ve/indicadores/NU0300900000000/index.php

Despite the decreasing levels in mortality for children under 15 years old, we found an
opposite negative result in the nutritional status for different groups of ages for children under 15
years old. For the first group, breastfeed children (Table 7) we found that between the year 2000 and
2005 the level of overweight babies have increased. For children between 2 and 6 years (Table 8) we
also found that acute undernourishment have slightly increased, as well as decompensate chronic
undernourishment and overweight. Chronic compensate undernourishment have decreased in last
years. For the last group of children, between 7 and 15 years old, we found acute undernourishment
have decreased, but compensate and decompensate undernourishment as well as overweight have
increased. These indicators show that although acute undernourishment in general terms have
decreased we found a tendency in the increasing of compensate, uncompensated undernourishment
and one of the worries is overweight among children. We have seen that food availability have
increased in the last years, however, food accessibility and purchase power have not, which force
families to choose food items that can satisfy the basic needs without being able to have diversity and
quality of nutrients, as a consequence of this and the lack of information of how o choose food,
children, the most vulnerable group of the population, have to consume food that is not adequate for
their specific needs, and therefore sometimes rich in calories, low in fiber and micronutrients,
promoting weight gain and also due the lack of physical activity, overweight20.

Table 7. Under and Overweight in breastfeeding children, Venezuela. 2000-2005.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Underweight 11.7 12.7 13.0 13.5 13.0 12.0
Overweight 25.7 25.2 25.8 25.1 25.7 26.9
Source: INN-SISVAN. Component children under 15 years

Table 8. Nutritional status in children between 2 and 6 years old, Venezuela. 2000-2005
Acute Chronic Decompensate Overweight
Year Under. compensate. Chronic. Under
Under.
2000 10.7 10.4 1.3 10.8
2001 11.7 10.5 1.4 10.8
2002 12.6 10.4 1.4 10.7
2003 13.1 10.7 1.6 9.6
2004 13.9 9.9 2.2 9.5
2005 12.7 10.0 1.5 11.0
Source: INN-SISVAN. Component children under 15 years

Table 9. Nutritional status in children between 7 and 15 years old, Venezuela. 2000-2005
Acute Chronic Decompensate Overweight
Year Under. compensate. Chronic. Under
Under.
2000 8.1 14.9 1.4 14.4
2001 8.4 15.3 1.5 15.0
2002 9.2 14.6 1.4 14.6
2003 9.4 15.7 1.6 12.6
2004 9.2 15.1 2.7 13.1
2005 8.5 15.2 1.5 15.8
Source: INN-SISVAN. Component children under 15 years

20
López de Blanco et al. La transición alimentaria y nutricional: un reto en el siglo XXI. Anales venezolanos de nutrición. Vol:
18, Num: 1, 2005. ISSN: 0798-0752
 For adult population, according to the publication of the world health organization21, for
2010, 74.4% of the male population over 15 years old was overweight (BMI> 25 kg/m2), representing
the third country with the highest overweight male population of the Americas region, after USA and
Argentina. In 2010, 67.3% of the female population Venezuela from the group older than 15 years old
was overweight (BMI> 25 kg/m2), representing the 15Th place of the rank within the Americas region.
These statistics are worrying if we related this to the high percentage of non-communicable diseases
(for 2004, 58% of the causes of mortality were from non-communicable diseases) and knowing that
within these groups the most important are the circulatory diseases (27%) and cancer (12.5%), then
we can assume that this mortality rate can be directly affected by diet modification.

21
World Health Organization. Global Infobase. https://apps.who.int/infobase/
Annex 4. Apparent daily consumption per capita, by social status, by products. Second semester 2008- First semester 2010.

Second semester 2008 First semester 2009 Second semester 2009 First semester 2010

Product Unit of Status I, II Status I, Status I, II Status I, II Status

Status IV Status V Status IV Status V Status IV Status V Status IV
measurament y III II y III y III y III V
1/
Cereals
Rice gr 49,85 58,70 60,73 50,31 56,53 58,13 52,31 61,61 59,83 53,45 54,39 57,68
Oatmeal and
subproducts gr 7,40 6,94 6,63 8,84 7,81 8,47 9,68 8,94 8,51 8,51 9,07 8,12
Sweet crackers (Maria) gr 4,02 3,05 2,48 3,96 3,51 2,28 3,86 3,64 2,25 2,76 2,68 2,52
Crackers gr 5,19 4,23 3,54 4,61 3,54 3,09 4,78 3,84 3,39 4,86 2,94 2,98
Rice Flour gr 3,09 2,25 2,24 1,62 2,73 1,73 1,90 2,55 1,60 2,91 3,22 1,61
Oatmeal flour gr 1,43 1,16 0,94 1,15 0,86 1,02 1,10 0,85 0,80 1,30 0,84 0,66
Maize Flour gr 71,63 77,86 84,34 71,64 79,88 84,69 68,85 82,11 80,85 69,15 73,68 81,35
Wheat bread gr 43,43 42,59 38,80 46,30 43,04 43,20 47,86 45,72 46,96 52,94 48,05 39,17
Pasta gr 42,98 43,94 45,75 41,76 47,46 51,02 45,35 49,21 49,60 46,26 46,20 45,42

Roots, tuber and others

Arracacha gr 12,17 8,81 7,92 11,71 8,59 8,35 12,14 9,28 8,06 10,55 8,29 7,60
Yam gr 7,48 7,11 7,81 7,50 7,81 5,86 8,20 7,82 5,74 5,87 7,43 9,74
Malanga gr 9,95 10,55 10,05 9,37 9,51 9,46 9,94 9,56 7,46 9,29 10,03 10,64
Potatoes gr 34,09 31,27 28,40 31,96 30,35 27,51 35,27 32,34 30,20 31,83 29,99 23,83
Plantain gr 44,65 43,81 49,30 45,94 49,02 45,12 48,81 48,74 44,52 44,06 43,12 43,86
Manioc gr 19,34 22,11 23,93 21,84 25,43 26,02 21,88 25,43 25,59 25,46 26,16 31,74

Sugar
Sugar gr 36,73 40,74 40,53 40,01 45,03 42,50 39,24 41,97 42,02 38,99 38,42 37,72

Pulses
Peas gr 6,22 6,77 6,44 6,23 6,54 7,92 6,21 7,10 7,76 7,12 7,87 12,96
Black beans gr 11,09 16,90 19,32 13,16 18,01 18,85 14,39 18,43 21,07 14,35 16,34 19,77
Beans gr 4,70 4,78 5,64 5,94 6,02 6,62 5,62 5,72 7,93 5,92 6,25 6,85
Lentils gr 6,98 7,70 7,48 10,05 10,27 12,53 10,84 11,42 12,70 11,37 11,22 12,32

Vegetables
Sweet Peppers gr 5,58 5,38 4,92 6,21 5,62 5,38 6,45 6,15 5,32 5,23 6,03 4,47
Pumpkin gr 19,44 19,54 21,99 19,03 19,61 22,82 19,20 19,36 19,40 19,17 19,69 27,42
Onions gr 22,70 21,25 20,05 23,36 21,56 20,66 23,53 21,10 19,98 22,27 22,32 18,73
Peppers gr 11,09 8,89 6,48 10,09 8,00 6,74 10,91 9,23 7,76 10,84 9,39 5,28
Tomatoes gr 26,78 25,39 24,32 26,47 25,85 26,11 25,89 24,10 22,67 23,61 20,95 21,99
Carrots gr 19,66 17,45 15,76 20,28 17,73 13,66 22,49 18,46 13,83 19,73 16,31 13,55

Fruits
Bananas gr 39,01 35,44 41,22 33,89 34,44 33,56 35,61 38,01 36,36 40,58 42,72 37,28
Guava gr 21,43 21,49 20,87 21,56 21,28 20,77 22,41 23,04 18,98 22,51 22,30 22,94
Papaya gr 46,88 31,83 33,91 43,38 33,88 35,31 44,64 34,96 33,34 45,00 42,13 27,25
Lime gr 11,31 10,51 11,07 11,24 8,62 7,82 11,48 9,41 9,43 10,25 7,95 9,90
Mandarin gr 13,53 9,32 6,64 17,42 10,13 10,38 20,88 13,10 13,13 16,15 15,27 12,53
Mango gr 6,40 9,66 11,52 13,71 18,43 23,35 3,53 4,69 6,84 19,26 18,25 23,52
Melon gr 29,68 24,28 20,25 34,17 30,92 20,62 38,72 32,52 25,76 42,79 38,19 18,94
Oranges gr 26,29 23,22 22,17 31,89 26,02 26,25 33,03 27,09 26,22 31,21 26,07 17,40
Watermelon gr 32,16 24,36 18,70 43,15 34,36 25,97 49,32 38,75 30,47 43,56 36,43 28,64
Pineapple gr 18,01 14,53 7,80 17,86 13,71 9,50 20,61 15,30 11,42 24,87 18,43 9,77

Meat and eggs

Pork meat gr 9,83 7,87 6,71 9,66 8,85 8,14 12,85 10,91 9,55 13,33 12,26 6,14
Chicken meat gr 86,45 85,26 92,00 77,20 78,73 81,16 76,63 76,82 82,00 80,20 76,27 68,13
Beef gr 52,25 46,60 35,80 48,69 47,27 41,58 55,01 51,09 41,40 50,96 48,85 40,64
Beef liver gr 4,10 5,50 3,90 3,85 4,34 5,54 5,38 5,25 5,64 5,59 5,34 7,63
Eggs (Hen) gr 20,90 20,35 22,00 20,90 21,45 20,90 20,90 22,00 20,90 22,55 20,90 18,70
Ham gr 10,39 8,99 5,03 11,61 8,24 5,37 12,03 8,98 5,45 11,25 10,81 7,07
Mortadella gr 7,40 11,31 14,40 5,89 9,55 10,58 5,93 9,81 10,92 8,78 10,98 11,45

Fish
Canned tuna gr 9,57 9,16 8,94 9,82 9,18 8,99 9,93 8,85 9,20 9,59 8,98 10,55
Fresh fish gr 23,76 24,74 20,90 29,04 26,75 26,82 28,15 26,03 24,36 29,46 26,15 26,55
Curated fish gr 3,89 4,07 3,34 4,94 5,37 7,21 2,65 3,19 5,37 6,80 6,19 6,28
Canned sardines gr 4,35 6,30 6,44 4,60 6,51 6,67 5,03 6,89 8,30 6,15 8,23 10,45

Milk and subproducts

Whole milk powder gr 16,74 16,51 14,23 18,31 18,34 15,40 20,35 19,12 16,43 19,63 17,96 14,65
Skim milk powder gr 1,68 1,19 0,53 2,46 0,63 0,26 2,06 0,69 0,30 2,44 0,92 1,16
Whole milk liquid ml 39,56 25,87 17,61 38,70 29,58 23,39 38,08 30,63 25,04 28,92 28,54 22,21
Skim milk liquid ml 24,01 9,02 3,72 20,45 8,27 6,12 19,64 9,17 5,90 14,94 7,94 3,10
Cheese (gouda type) gr 8,77 4,39 2,44 9,15 5,43 2,97 9,41 5,35 3,69 9,69 6,30 2,45
Fresh white cheese gr 19,85 19,74 20,87 20,09 19,54 19,20 20,17 20,24 18,93 19,14 18,84 17,89

Fat
Vegetable Oil ml 22,78 23,27 22,75 22,67 25,31 23,84 24,97 27,19 25,58 24,50 23,08 20,36
Butter gr 1,67 0,93 0,74 1,29 0,95 1,05 1,05 0,66 0,50 1,33 0,71 0,44
Margarine gr 9,81 9,68 10,41 9,92 10,39 9,79 9,88 10,46 10,13 9,03 9,69 10,01
Mayonnaise gr 7,34 7,30 6,60 7,10 7,20 6,79 8,16 8,15 6,97 8,65 8,08 5,47

Spices
Salt gr 6,44 6,84 8,21 6,53 6,71 7,14 6,18 6,65 7,45 6,21 6,90 6,31

Stimulants
Coffee powder gr 9,76 9,30 9,66 9,23 8,89 10,33 9,92 9,42 10,18 10,72 9,33 9,00

Beverages
Alcoholic beverages ml 21,89 24,45 17,72 18,85 19,09 20,76 22,02 21,13 20,73 14,04 14,94 6,33
Carbonated drinks ml 105,69 97,89 85,50 81,68 92,12 76,61 82,54 88,51 75,92 113,49 103,19 68,28
Ready to make drinks gr 3,15 2,75 2,02 2,44 1,96 2,11 2,59 2,25 2,27 2,81 2,27 2,70

Note: 1/: ml: milliliter, gr: grams

Source: INE. http://www.ine.gov.ve/consumo/cuadrosbasicos8.htm
3. Which are the most important measurements taken by your ( and the other)government to
try to solve those food security problems ( advice: check the Food and nutrition (and health ) policy
paper in your country).

The programs that prioritize the feeding and nutrition of vulnerable groups and/or
socioeconomic risk , framed in the Mission Feeding are:
- Program of Scholar Feeding (Programa de Alimentación Escolar) that covers at the
moment more than 4 million students.
- PDVAL: Networks of food expenditures (with controlled prices).
- MERCAL: Networks of food expenditures with subsidized.
- Networks of feeding for vulnerable groups: Communitarian houses for feeding,
communitarian kitchens, where communities are organize to cook for vulnerable groups, receiving
guide and subsidies from the national institute of nutrition.
On the other hand, foods enriched for protection of vulnerable groups have been distributed
nutritionally:
- Nutrichicha: milky drink with enriched rice (population objective: pregnant women,
children, adults).
- Nutriponque; (based on cereals from national production, for the school breaks
snacks).
- Nutripapilla; (food to complement the feeding of children under 2 years old with
national products), tropical fruits dehydrated, isotonic drinks.
The oriented actions taken to improve the food availability are:
- To prioritize strategic headings of production, such as the maize and the rice, which
objective is to produce in sufficient amounts to satisfy the nutritional goals of the Venezuelan
population.
- Support of the network of laboratories of biological food.
- National production of seeds.
- Initiatives for local agriculture: prioritizing the communitarian consumption and
accelerating the commercialization.
- National production of bio-plaguicides and bio-fertilizer.
- Support for the formation of innovation networks for farmers.
- Earth rescue in large estates.
- Financing of productive projects partners.
4. What would you advice as top priority measurements to be taken by your governments to
optimize actual food and nutrition security situation guaranteeing sustainability at middle and long
term and taking the following factors into account: population growth, water accessibility, climate
changes, income problems, land accessibility, infrastructure, etc.

As main priority for food accessibility will be to open the exchange currency system for the
food sector. The main problem since the establishment of this system has been the increasing of the
prices that have not cope with the purchase power of the population, as a consequence of this,
families earn the same but can purchase less food, or less quality and varieties of food items. One of
the crucial consequences has been that food industries have found many difficulties to access to raw
materials and due this, increasing their losses of productivity, reducing the investment and
sometimes closing their industries, this, as well, has contributed to the increasing index of
unemployment and decreasing offer of food items, people has been force to eat what they can find
and not what they normally would have purchased years ago. Measurements as the control of food
prices has been used as “wet towels” to calm the anxiety of the population to access to food,
however the real availability of these food items is not constant and has been used as a politic
manipulation for the government party, meaning this, that if you belong to the official party of the
current government would make things easier for the families to get a “member card” that identifies
them and indirectly make easier their access to food, as a consequence, many families have become
part of the party, but none of this advantages can be proved or written about, the government have
taken control of the media resources, and taken important actions against their oppositors, Chavez
has extended and toughened penalties for speech offenses; implemented a broadcasting law that
allows for the arbitrary suspension of channels for a vaguely defined offense of "incitement"; limited
public access to official information and punish stations with overtly critical programming22, as a
consequence many radios channels and tv channels have been shut down, and some of their
directors persecuted as political instigators: the truth behind the facts is not available.
Food national production has decreased23, investment in food technology, food engineering
and food research is nearly inexistent, and policies that support sustainability, local farmers and
agroforestry, although proposed in paper are not a priority.
Coming from a country that always based its national income in oil production, there still a
long way to go for an agricultural development and independence, only this, together with the
improvement, execution and follow up of health and educational policies, that shall be based in the
population interest and not in an specific political idealism, will be the key to succeed and achieve an
adequate availability, accessibility and food intake that can assure good health and increase quality of
life in a country that has all natural resources needed for it.

22
Human Rights Watch. A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in
Venezuela. 2008. ISBN: 1-56432-371-4.
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2008/09/18/decade-under-ch-vez
23
Notas agropecuarias Venezuela. Venezuela : sin agricultura camino a la hambruna.
http://agronotas.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/venezuela-sin-agricultura-camino-a-la-hambruna/