SCN News No 36 - UNSCN

www.unsystem.org/scn FEATURES 9
Despite the recent progress, a large share of the population still lives in a situation of poverty. Brazil still has
one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world, as a result of a historic process of economic growth with
inequitable distribution of income and opportunities.
Given this context, overcoming the serious and interrelated problems of poverty and inequality in Brazil
requires a sustained and integrated effort from all levels of government and also from civil society.
The Zero Hunger Strategy
The Zero Hunger strategy (Fome Zero), which coordinates programmes from 11 ministries, in partnership with
civil society, plays a fundamental role in improving the living conditions of the population. It also contributes to the
introduction of the food and nutrition security element to the public policies agenda, both in Brazil and abroad.
We have implemented integrated actions concerning the human right to adequate food. These in turn provide
the foundations for the Zero Hunger strategy, in order to ensure the production, availability and regular access
to high quality food for everyone. We have also invested in strategies for impact evaluation of food and nutrition
security policies and programmes. One important step was the creation in 2004 of a baseline measuring
the various levels of food insecurity in Brazil, based on the Brazilian Scale of Food Insecurity (EBIA). This will
allow subsequent impact evaluations of Brazilian food and nutrition security policies (SAGI/MDS 2007).
The Federal Law for Food and Nutrition Security
Another important step to ensure the human right to adequate food in Brazil was the introduction of a Federal
Law for Food and Nutrition Security – Law No. 11346, from September 15, 2006. This created the National
System for Food and Nutrition Security which aims to integrate initiatives within this area. This law grants the
status of public policy to food and nutrition security, thus requiring the State to enforce the universal right to
regular and permanent access to good quality food in sufficient quantities, based on healthy food practices
which respect cultural diversity and which are environmentally, culturally, socially and economically sustainable.
The National Council on Food and Nutrition Security – CONSEA
The Brazilian policy on food and nutrition security is monitored by the National Council on Food and Nutrition
Security – CONSEA, which congregates 18 State Ministers and 36 representatives of civil society, and is
directly linked to the Presidency of the Republic.
The policy implementation includes strategies for: strengthening family agriculture through financing,
technical assistance and purchase guarantees; local initiatives to allow for access to food and water
(subsidized restaurants, food banks, community kitchens, cisterns) and strategies directed towards school
meals and the promotion of healthy food habits.
The Bolsa Familia Program
The cornerstone programme for the promotion of food and nutrition security is the Bolsa Familia Program,
which benefits 11 million poor families. In return for a cash transfer, which allows for food purchases and
some immediate relief of the difficulties created by poverty, families must keep their children in school, giving
them the opportunity to break the intergenerational poverty cycle. They also must comply with an agenda for
health monitoring, which includes vaccination, prenatal care and nutritional monitoring of pregnant and
lactating women and children under 7 years old, thus ensuring their basic rights to health access.
Bolsa Familia introduces an intersectoral approach, which is key to the social development debate, since
there is a strong interdependence among all public actions directed to citizens living in poverty. In this sense,
food and nutrition security policy must work in an articulated and synergetic manner with other policies on social
assistance, health, education, and labour, thereby adding more effectiveness to the resources invested.
Other initiatives
Taking into consideration the intersectoral approach to public policy, the Brazilian Government has promoted
various actions which have resulted in the improvement of the nutritional indicators of pregnant women and
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