Under the executive secretariat of FAO, RAES is a Brazilian government initiative currently comprising 17 countries. Its participation in the Global Alliance aims to strengthen school feeding in the region.
Paulo Beraldo and Palova Brito
February 25, 2025, Santiago, Chile – The Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) has become a new member of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, with its official membership confirmed in the first week of February this year.
RAES’s incorporation into the Alliance represents a contribution from the Brazilian government, FAO, and the 17 member countries of the Network to strengthen the school feeding agenda in the region.
The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty was launched in November 2024 during the G20 Summit in Brazil, with the goal of supporting and accelerating efforts to eradicate hunger and poverty, reduce inequalities, and promote sustainable, inclusive, and fair transitions.
RAES has committed to strengthening the knowledge pillar within the Alliance, leveraging its experience since 2018 in providing technical assistance to Latin American and Caribbean countries, particularly in consolidating and strengthening school feeding programmes. Currently, these programmes benefit more than 80 million Latin American and Caribbean students.
The Network is a South-South cooperation initiative in school feeding, driven by the Brazilian government through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC/MRE) and the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE/MEC), with the support of the executive secretariat of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In this context, RAES is executed under the framework of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme.
Currently, the Network comprises 17 countries in the region and works collaboratively to strengthen and consolidate school feeding programmes from the perspective of the human right to adequate food.
Results
Moreover, the regional networking efforts have proven to be a strategic coordination mechanism. Some of the key achievements of RAES include the creation of a permanent space for dialogue on the subject, the consolidation of the paradigm of the human right to adequate and healthy food in LAC countries, and the collective construction of regional knowledge, which guides national progress and empowers local actors.
Other notable outcomes of RAES’s work include the promotion of a healthier food culture in schools, the exchange of experiences, learning, and information, the strengthening of decision-making processes for policymakers, and the fostering of a collaborative regional management culture that encourages the development of strategies and innovations. Additionally, RAES has increased the visibility and recognition of national and regional actions and created a trilingual regional platform for sharing information on school feeding and food and nutrition security in schools: www.redraes.org.
It is also worth mentioning the Sustainable Schools methodology, created by the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation on school feeding in collaboration with LAC countries, which has been disseminated and supported by RAES. The methodology aims to implement actions in six key components: intersectoral coordination, community participation, adoption of adequate and healthy menus, food and nutrition education initiatives, infrastructure improvements, and family farming procurement. The goal is to scale up these experiences nationally and make school feeding programs more efficient and sustainable.
Since the beginning of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme working in school feeding, in 2009, more than 40,000 professionals have received training through courses and field activities, including school feeding program managers from different ministries and professionals from various sectors such as health, education, agriculture, and social protection.
Additionally, teachers, school principals, nutritionists, cooks, family farmers, and parents have also benefited. The RAES Network has also supported the development of six school feeding laws in countries across the region and is currently in dialogue with three other nations that are in the process of creating their legal frameworks on the subject.
Due to its nature and the commitment of its member countries, RAES is dedicated to developing knowledge-support actions to contribute to achieving the key goals of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty: eradicating hunger and poverty by 2030, reducing inequalities, promoting sustainable agriculture, improving nutrition, and ensuring quality food and health worldwide.
