The Aruanã Institute is pleased to announce the launch of its new scientific communication line, "Aruanã Data." Aiming to disseminate relevant, evidence-based information on crucial topics for socio-environmental justice, the editorial debuts this Tuesday, July 22, highlighting alarming data on food insecurity in the states of the Legal Amazon.

In this first edition of "Aruanã Data," we highlight the paradox of hunger in the Amazon region. Despite a significant 176% growth in agricultural production between 2004 and 2023—a rate significantly higher than the national average of 113%—this increase has not translated into greater food security for the local population.

One of the most worrying data revealed is that six of the ten states with the highest rates of severe food insecurity in Brazil are located in the Legal Amazon. Pará, for example, which recorded a 294% increase in agricultural production over the same period, leads the rankings for severe hunger in 2023, with a rate of 9.5%—double the national average . On average, severe food insecurity in the Legal Amazon is 31% higher than in the rest of the country, according to data from the 2023 Continuous PNAD.

This reality leads us to ask: if food production has grown so much, why does hunger still plague the region? We seek to encourage reflection on this contradiction, highlighting that food insecurity is not primarily a question of a lack of production, but rather of inequality in access to the food that is produced.

Follow "Aruanã Dados" for concise, visual analyses of important data about the Legal Amazon. Our goal is to inform and engage society in the search for solutions to the region's socio-environmental challenges.