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Guatemala Key Message Update: Start of seasonal decrease in demand for casual labor, January 2020

Pays
Guatemala
Sources
FEWS NET
Date de publication
Origine
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Key Messages The poorest households in the dry corridor improved their food security thanks to the generation of income for the season, which allowed them to be classified in Stress (IPC Phase 2). Starting in February, the lack of basic grain reserves and the reduction of temporary employment will limit the purchase of food, marking the premature start of the lean season, leading some poor households into Crisis outcomes (IPC Phase 3).

As of February, the demand for casual labor decreases, which constitutes the main source of income for poor households. The resources generated during these months usually allow them to acquire food, pay credits and save for subsequent months. However, for households located in the dry corridor, which have depended on the purchase and credit for consecutive years, there is no saving option since they have spent the income faster than usual.

The price of white corn remains stable at about Q130/QQ. Wholesale black beans are sold at about Q350/QQ, 6 percent below the 5-year average, although this reduction is not reflected in the price per pound sold between Q4.50 and Q5.00. Prices will remain stable for the following months as the market continues to be supplied with national grain from recent crops.

The cold fronts season is still active for the next months. To date it has caused two frosts in the Altiplano and an increase in rainfall, especially in the Northern Transversal Strip, where they have caused floods that have caused damage to homes and crops in the municipalities of Fray Bartolome, Chisec, Raxruhá and Chahal in Alta Verapaz and in Ixcán, Quiché. The weather models indicate a normal start of the first rainy season.