Speaking of Hunger and Coping with Food Insecurity: Experiences in the Afro-Ecuadorian Highlands

Abstract

Using examples from an Afro-Ecuadorian community, we analyze indicators of household food insecurity and discuss them in terms of household structure and different time frames. We found that perceptions of hunger vary independently over time and are expressed differently in different types of households. We also found that definitions, although variable within the population, can be framed in five conceptual categories: a) an experience filled with anguish or despair; b) hunger as an economic issue; c) a concern over child welfare; d) an experience of the physical body; e) hunger as the experience of not having any food rather than not having variety in what is eaten; and f) those individuals who indicated they had never experienced hunger. We also learned that individuals act and react in a variety of ways to food insecurity. Our study highlights the way people attempt to adjust to fluctuations in food and resources, how they can feel helpless and alienated, and how they attempt to do the best they can with dignity and hopefulness.

Keywords:

• Hunger
• food insecurity
• coping strategies
• Afro-Ecuadorian

Research for this article was supported by the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS) at the University of Oregon and a Faculty Research Grant from the Department of Anthropology. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of these institutions. The authors also thank Carole Counihan, Paul Yovanoff, Cathleen Leue, Nicholás Coronel, Juan José Vázconez, Alexandra Guerrón-Montero, Betty de Aguilar, and Edward Black for their assistance and support during data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation. We also acknowledge and appreciate the comments of the anonymous reviewers. Special gratitude to the community of San Lucas for their friendship and collaboration in this project.

Notes

¹The most important declarations are the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which guarantees the right to food, health, and an adequate standard of living, and the San Salvador Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights, which also guarantees the right to health, food, and a healthy environment.

²Although not common, intermarriage between indigenous peoples and black populations does take place in the Valley of El Chota. For instance, in San Lucas one indigenous woman is married to a black man.

³San Lucas is a pseudonym we use in reference to the community studied.

⁴In theory, everyone who is affiliated with the Social Security Office has access to the Peasant Social Security System, which is the rural version of the Social Security System in the rest of the country. A person needs to work for somebody to be affiliated to the Social Security System. The Ecuadorian government is the source of the system.

⁵IANCEM is an acronym for Ingenio Azucarero del Norte’ Compañía de Economía Mixta (Northern Sugar Cane Refinery).

Jochnick, C. (1999). From needs to rights: Recognizing the right to health in Ecuador. Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR Brooklyn, N.Y. (USA)), document