Brazilian National School Feeding Program: Supporting child nutrition and local farmers
Emily Bowler
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Brazil has done a remarkable job decreasing rates of malnutrition in the last few decades. Between 1990 and 2012, extreme hunger was reduced from 25.5 percent to 3 percent (World Bank, 2018). The World Bank defines living in extreme hunger as living on less than the equivalent of US$1 a day (Weisfeld-Adams & Andrzejewski, 2008). During these same years, poverty was also reduced, as the poverty rate dropped from 17.1 percent in 2001 to 9 percent in 2009 (Sidaner et al., 2012). In fact, Brazil reached the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing poverty by 50 percent well before the 2015 deadline. Following the collapse of the military regime in 1985, democracy was at the forefront of the new Brazilian constitution, with a heavy emphasis on social protection (Paes-Sousa & Vaitsman, 2014). In the 1990s, the Brazilian government began to establish reforms for food insecurity, partially due to advocacy efforts by grassroots organizations like the Organization for Citizenship Action against Hunger, Extreme Poverty and Life (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2007). A Hunger Map was also developed by government statisticians to identify regions where large portions of the population lived in poverty, so resources could be targeted to those that need it the most (Food and Agriculture Organization, 2007).
Various pro-poor policies have helped Brazil achieve gains in poverty reduction, specifically those introduced between 1995 and 2006 (Monteiro, 2006). In 2003, the Bolsa Família Program (BF) initiated regular cash transfers for poor families. Income inequality fell dramatically, as the Gini coefficient decreased by 15 percent (Wetzel, 2013). The Gini coefficient is one statistical measure of income distribution used to measure inequality. The BF has also been correlated with increased immunizations, prenatal visits and decreased child mortality (Wetzel, 2013). Therefore, reductions in poverty through targeted social services provided a foundation in which Brazil was able to address child malnutrition, due in part to ministerial interest in welfare programs.
Healthy food access has been specifically prioritized in Brazil at the ministerial level. Brazil’s school feeding programs, which have promoted nutrition as well as local food production, are state-run and mandated. The first legislation that had major impacts on child malnutrition was the 1988 law mandating a universal right to free school meals. In 2001, the National Plan for Education included an outline of the minimum energy and protein levels by age that needed to be provided to every child (Sidaner et al., 2012). The government has thus taken responsibility for feeding schoolchildren and has approached it like a science.
While this was a promising start, the expansion of the program that began in 2003 is where the country began to stand out in comparison to other programs in surrounding Latin American countries. This was made possible in part due to the election of the former union leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to the presidency. Lula pushed for reforms to tackle food insecurity (FAO, 2007). Both the political climate and the leadership created an environment in which policies addressing social concerns such as food insecurity were able to take root. The Ministry of Social Development and the Fight Against Hunger (MDS) became responsible for overseeing the new initiative, called the Zero Hunger program, which included the Ministry of Education’s National School Feeding Program (FAO, 2007). There was significant political will spearheading the organization necessary to implement this ambitious goal.
The Brazilian government is consistently revising protocol in the face of implementation obstacles. For a more detailed analysis of Brazil’s countrywide program, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s publication “Right to Food: Lessons Learned in Brazil” is a comprehensive source to consult. M. Jahi Chappell’s Beginning to End Hunger: Food and the Environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Beyond highlights the Brazilian program with an in-depth case study of the school feeding program in the large southeastern Brazilian city. 800,000 people are served by this program, with over 20 programs including school meals as well as organic produce fairs. Yet, less than two percent of the city’s budget goes towards these programs (Chappell, 2018). This holistic approach allows local farmers to benefit economically from selling to the schools, restaurants and markets, and the consumers benefit because they have varied, affordable produce. A particularly compelling aspect of this case is despite the fact that there have been five mayors in the time of this 25-year program, it has never been terminated. The dramatic progress this city has made has raised it to the international stage as a successful example of an alternative food system.
Kids in Brazil enjoying their school lunches.
In 2006, the National Council of Food and Nutritional Security (CONSEA) was established, along with an Interministerial Chamber of Food and Nutritional Security made up of representatives from nineteen ministries. Both civil society organizations and governmental entities are involved in this council, indicating the Brazilian government is making a commitment to give multiple actors’ their voice in policy implementation. Elected School Nutrition Councils are in charge of reviewing reports before they are sent to the ministry to ensure data collection is correct (Sidaner et al., 2012). The school environment was chosen to be the distribution center for this project because it is not only a way to incentivize parents to keep their children in school, but activities like school farming projects could easily be implemented within the existing structure of the school (Sidaner et al., 2012). In 2009, the School Feeding Law was passed. This resolution mandated schools to provide 20 percent of the daily caloric need of each child for one meal offered, and 30 percent if the school is providing two meals. If the school is located in a predominantly indigenous or quilombo (descendants of slaves) community, 30 percent of daily caloric needs must be met even if the school is only offering one meal (Sidaner et al., 2012). This is a small acknowledgment towards the reality of higher poverty rates in indigenous/quilombo populations, and a way in which the government is attempting to address this inequity. Also, 30 percent of the resources must be from local farmers, with an emphasis on those that use organic practices (Sidaner et al., 2012). With this declaration, Brazil became the first country to link school feeding and local agriculture production by law (Hawkes et al., 2016). In 2010, the addition of the Human Right to Adequate Food in the constitution solidified the Brazilian government’s promotion of food security and officially made food access a governmental obligation.
It is important to note that Brazil refers to it as food and “nutritional” security, which indicates that it is beyond just having access to food: the nutritional value of the food people have access to is what matters the most in terms of living a good quality of life. Despite the successes Brazil has made, the country still faces issues of access within their programs. Brazil has one of the most productive agricultural economies in the world, as evidenced in their place as the world’s fourth-largest food exporter (Oxfam, 2010). With such an emphasis on exports, there is concern for national access and distribution. Poverty is still widespread in the northern and northeast regions of Brazil, and this is therefore a concern in relation to the region’s ability to obtain food and nutritional security (Chepkemoi, 2017). A cross-sectional study on perceptions of the feeding program in Viçosa, Minas Gerais found most schools had not been visited by a nutritionist in the last year and the school cooks had not received training in the last two years (Rocha et al., 2017). Researchers also found a lack of adequate nutritional value in school meals (Rocha et al., 2017). A recent study found a lack of nutritionists and a lack of coordination between local farmers and schools to be logistical challenges in Rio de Janeiro (Ferreria et al., 2019). The program undoubtedly must continue to be revised in the face of issues of access, but it is important to recognize that Brazil has come a long way in addressing food security, and should be a model for countries to improve human and environmental health by addressing structural issues in their food system.
Additional Resources
Hawkes, C., Brazil, B. G., Castro, I. R. R. D., & Jaime, P. C. (2016). How to engage across sectors: lessons from agriculture and nutrition in the Brazilian School Feeding Program. Revista de saude publica, 50, 47.
Paiva, Janaína Braga de, Freitas, Maria do Carmo Soares de, & Santos, Ligia Amparo da Silva. (2016). Significados da alimentação escolar segundo alunos atendidos pelo Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 21(8), 2507-2516. https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1413-81232015218.07562015
Pérez-Escamilla, R., Shamah-Levy, T., & Candel, J. (2017). Food security governance in Latin America: Principles and the way forward. Global Food Security, 14, 68-72.
Sonnino, R., Torres, C. L., & Schneider, S. (2014). Reflexive governance for food security: The example of school feeding in Brazil. Journal of Rural Studies, 36, 1-12.
References
Chappell, M. J. (2018). Beginning to end hunger: Food and the environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and beyond. Univ of California Press.
Chepkemoi, J. (2017, May 25). The Richest And Poorest States Of Brazil. Retrieved May 9, 2019, from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-richest-and-poorest-states-of-brazil.html
Ferreira, D. M., Barbosa, R., Finizola, N. C., Soares, D., Henriques, P., Pereira, S., … Dias, P. C. (2019). Perception of the operating agents about the Brazilian National School Feeding Program. Revista de saude publica, 53, 34.
Fighting Hunger in Brazil. (2010, June). Retrieved from https://www-cdn.oxfam.org/s3fs-public/file_attachments/cs-fighting-hunger-brazil-090611-en_3.pdf
Sidaner, E., Balaban, D., & Burlandy, L. (2013). The Brazilian school feeding programme: an example of an integrated programme in support of food and nutrition security. Public Health Nutrition, 16(6), 989-994.
Paes-Sousa, R., & Vaitsman, J. (2014). The Zero Hunger and Brazil without Extreme Poverty programs: a step forward in Brazilian social protection policy. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 19, 4351-4360.
Panorama of Food and Nutrition Security in Latin America and the Caribbean. (2017). Retrieved April 3, 2019, from http://www.fao.org/3/a-i7914e.pdf
Right to Food: Lessons Learned from Brazil. (2007) Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Retrieved April 3, 2019, from http://hrbaportal.org/wp-content/files/a1331e.pdf
Rocha, N., Filgueiras, M., Albuquerque, F., Milagres, L., Castro, A., Silva, M., . . . Novaes, J. (2018). Analysis of the national school feeding program in the municipality of viçosa, state of minas gerais. Revista De Saude Publica, 52, 16-16.
Weisfeld-Adams, E., & Andrzejewski, A. (2008, April 22). Hunger and Poverty: Definitions and Distinctions. Retrieved April 12, 2019, from www.thp.org/files/Hunger%20and%20Poverty.pdf
Photo credits
Girls and their school lunch. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/in-action/program-brazil-fao/projects/school-feeding/en/
Girls and their school lunch. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/in-action/program-brazil-fao/projects/school-feeding/en/
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