The virtual event brought together representatives from Brazil and other countries in the region, who praised the innovations of this law, which has also inspired other countries in creating their own legislation on the topic.
Paulo Beraldo and Palova Brito
Brasília, Brazil, June 21, 2024 – “Ensuring nutritious and healthy meals for children and adolescents is essential for family food security and reducing inequalities,” stated Brazil’s First Lady, Janja Lula da Silva, School Feeding Ambassador, during the opening of the international event celebrating the 15th anniversary of Brazil’s School Feeding Law. She emphasized that Brazil and the FAO have been sharing the example of Brazilian school feeding with the world for over fifteen years.
The virtual event, held on June 20, was organized by the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE), with support from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), under the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme. The event also featured the World Food Programme’s Centre of Excellence Against Hunger in Brazil and government representatives from school feeding programmes in the Dominican Republic and São Tomé and Príncipe. The event was broadcasted on social media and gathered around 850 participants in real time.
FNDE President, Fernanda Pacobahyba, highlighted that the Law 11.947 institutionalized the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE) as a state policy that has advanced and is being improved, currently serving about 40 million students daily. According to her, the law has been effective as a social protection instrument, improving school attendance and encouraging healthy eating habits. She also expressed pride in the Brazilian programme’s contribution to the development of school feeding policies in other countries through international cooperation, emphasizing the partnership with ABC, FAO, and WFP in sharing Brazilian experiences, practices, and knowledge with other nations. “This law has inspired countless countries due to its many advancements.”
PNAE General Coordinator, Karine Santos, mentioned that the law mandates that at least 30% of food for students be purchased from family farming. She also highlighted the principles of universality, the strengthening of social participation through school feeding councils, the promotion of food and nutrition education actions, and that, for all these reasons, it has become a mechanism to ensure the human right to adequate food. “These advances were only possible because we worked in a coordinated and articulated manner at the federal level and with subnational entities, states, and municipalities that execute this programme.”
A law that crossed Brazil’s borders
Since 2009, through the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme, ABC, FNDE, and FAO have been developing projects aimed at strengthening and consolidating school feeding programmes and policies in Latin America and the Caribbean. In 2018, the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES, for its Spanish acronym) was created within this cooperation, also as a result of efforts to strengthen and consolidate school feeding programmes in the region.
Plinio Pereira, deputy director of South-South trilateral technical cooperation with international organizations at ABC, highlighted that school feeding is strategically important to combat hunger due to its multidimensional and intersectoral approach, also thanking FNDE for the partnership with ABC, FAO, and WFP. According to Pereira, this work has allowed the strengthening of national capacities, the improvement, and consolidation of school feeding programmes in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. “The significant progress made by partner governments in their programmes is countless,” he summarized.
Maya Takagi, FAO senior policy officer, noted that the Brazilian law crossed borders and inspired six countries in the region to formulate and enact specific school feeding laws: Bolivia, Paraguay, Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Panama. Additionally, three other countries are in the process of developing their legal frameworks: Chile, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic.
Ana Carolina Baez, Director of Nutritional Formulation and Evaluation at the National Institute of Student Welfare of the Dominican Republic (INABIE), highlighted that the Brazilian legislation fully translates the principles of sustainable school feeding. “We have learned a lot from experience exchanges, technical support, courses, but above all, we have learned that there is still much we can do in our countries.” She informed that a bill is already in the Dominican National Congress for approval.
Emanuel Montoia, coordinator of the school feeding and health programme in São Tomé and Príncipe, emphasized the role of the Brazilian government and international organizations in creating his country’s school feeding law in 2012. “Much of this programme is due to the support we received from Brazilian cooperation and Brazil’s experience.”
Daniel Balaban, who was FNDE president at the time of the school feeding law’s enactment and is currently the director of the WFP Centre of Excellence Against Hunger in Brazil, commented that it was an innovation and a bold move to publish a law like this fifteen years ago: “And it was thanks to this boldness that we are today celebrating a law that has been so successful. It is very important that the population defends public policies, as they are from and for the population.”
At the end of the event, Najla Veloso, coordinator of the project Regional Agenda for Sustainable School Feeding in LAC, stated that international technical cooperation also contributed to the law’s strengthening in Brazil and allowed it to cross borders. She concluded: “Our applause to FNDE and to the global reference that is the School Feeding Law 11.947, enacted in June 2009, which has been transforming the quality of school feeding in Brazil and the world for 15 years.”
Social Participation
During the virtual event, the CAE Social Participation Award 2024 was launched, highlighting the importance of school feeding councils’ participation in implementing PNAE Brazil. Professors Paulo Souza from Moju-PA and Sandra Tinós from Rio Claro-SP represented the school feeding council members at the award ceremony. Renata Mainenti, coordinator of support for social control at FNDE, stated that Law 11.947 strengthened the role of social participation. “Even knowing the challenges we face in building social participation, we also know that there are thousands of social control practices in PNAE that need to be known and disseminated. This is the main goal of the CAE Award.”
The recording of the event is available on the link below:
