The latest IPC Acute Food Insecurity analysis focuses on the entire population of Guatemala's 22 departments, totaling 17.6 million people. From March to May 2023, around 3.5 million individuals faced significant levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) and urgently require intervention. It is projected that this number will rise to 4.3 million people during the first projected period of June to August 2023, coinciding with the lean season, and then decrease to 3.1 million people from September 2023 to February 2024, which marks the harvest season.

The most vulnerable groups include daily wage workers and small-scale farmers who depleted their reserves between March and May 2023. Additionally, households heavily reliant on food purchases to meet their needs are also at risk. Rising prices of essential food items, fertilizers, fuel, and other services, combined with limited income, have forced households to resort to stress-inducing coping strategies, such as selling assets, migrating, borrowing money, reducing healthcare expenses, or depleting seed reserves. While maize and bean stocks were lower than anticipated by the end of the March-May period, consumption indicators remained at an acceptable level.

It is important to identify and prioritize populations and municipalities where a higher proportion of households have depleted their basic grain reserves and are employing Crisis and Emergency coping strategies. It is also recommended to implement humanitarian food assistance interventions and other actions outlined in the 2023 Seasonal Hunger Response Plan, with the support of humanitarian food assistance, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. The primary response objectives should focus on safeguarding livelihoods and reducing food consumption gaps in households classified in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) or Emergency (IPC Phase 4). Lastly, efforts to reduce risk factors should be strengthened.