Brasilia, Brazil, July 2, 2024 – The National School Feeding Program (PNAE) of Brazil and the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) were invited to present their experiences related to public procurement in the Latin American and Caribbean region at two events held at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, in the last week of June.
The invitation took into account the experience of implementing the actions of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation in School Feeding since 2009 — a work executed by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC/MRE), the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE/MEC), and FAO in the Latin American and Caribbean region. The participation also considered the work of RAES, since 2018, which brings together more than 26 countries in the dialogue on strengthening school feeding programmes.
Two events held were the “International workshop on Sustainable Public Procurement for Sustainable Food Systems” and the “Regional Pathway on Sustainable Public Procurement for Sustainable Food Systems,” both organized by teams from the FAO Nutrition Division and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), based in Rome, as a joint action effort under the One Planet Sustainable Public Procurement and Sustainable Food Systems Programmes.
Among other dialogue sessions and topics, Karine Santos, general coordinator of Brazil’s PNAE, presented the Brazilian programme executed by FNDE, highlighting figures and innovations. She emphasized the service provided to all students enrolled in the public system, which reaches 40 million people every school day of the year, offering more than 55 million meals daily.
Karine mentioned the regulations, implementation mechanisms, and the latest results of the provisions in Article 14 of Law 11.947, from 2009, which mandates that at least 30% of products must be purchased from family farming with resources transferred by the Federal Government. The general coordinator of PNAE emphasized the importance of prioritization by national managers, the decentralized work with states and municipalities, and the collaboration with various government institutions and civil society as fundamental to the success of public procurement in PNAE in her country.
In the same session, the RAES experience was presented by Najla Veloso, coordinator of the project Regional Agenda for Sustainable School Feeding in Latin America and the Caribbean and executive secretary of the network, developed under the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation. In her presentation, Najla highlighted the importance of considering that the school feeding policy is the main mechanism that defines the decision to make public procurement from family farming within this programme framework and that the perspective of offering healthy diets at school should be the focus of this dialogue.
Veloso emphasized that there are many challenges across various dimensions, including the definition of these purchases within the political framework of school feeding. She noted that school menus represent the demand for products needed by schools, so they must be well discussed, adequately planned, aligned with the food production and market processes, and, above all, committed to providing nutritious, healthy, and environmentally sustainable food in schools according to students’ nutritional needs.
In addition to this aspect, she pointed out other needs such as adapting and simplifying procurement processes, supporting smallholder farmers’ associations and cooperatives, promoting financial credit for family farmers, strengthening civil society and government alliances, and coordinating with all other related policies, from broader ones like education, health, and food and nutritional security to more specific ones like technical assistance, extension, credit, and others.
“We consider it important to strengthen specific regulations and have public procurement within the framework of school feeding policies and programmes as an essential strategy to guarantee adequate school meals in schools for all students, especially by offering fruits, vegetables, and other fresh and local foods,” she said.
The event focused on environmental sustainability, particularly on the demand for mechanisms to tackle climate change through public procurement, and facilitated dialogue on the importance of strengthening local and traditional food markets as concrete pathways for transforming conventional agri-food systems, especially in low and middle-income countries.
The activities included the participation of various institutions such as universities, national governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international organizations showcasing their experiences and challenges in reaching this market and sustainability.
The presentations demonstrated how public procurement has been the subject of research and studies, recognizing them as powerful instruments for increasing productivity and inclusion of smallholder farmers in agri-food systems, providing opportunities for innovation and business expansion.
Finally, to support countries’ governments in implementing these procurements and strengthening this market in its various dimensions, a list of priority recommendations was discussed, with practical steps to guide the dialogue with school feeding managers in the countries and develop capacities to boost this school public procurement market from an environmental sustainability perspective.
“The event clearly highlighted the need for public procurement for school feeding to prioritize local, agroecological, biodiverse foods that optimize the use of soil and water, among other essential points, because this set of actions encourages the production of more nutritious foods and promotes lower environmental impact,” stated Najla Veloso.
