A household survey has revealed that Brazil has approximately 72% of its population in a state of food and nutritional security
Brasilia, Brazil, April 30, 2024- The number of Brazilian families in food and nutritional security has increased in the past year, according to data released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) at the end of April. According to the IBGE, 56.7 million Brazilian households, comprising 152 million people (72.4%), are in a situation of food security.
The research methodology involves a questionnaire about the household’s food situation in the 90 days preceding the interview. The household is then classified into four levels according to the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. The food security level indicates that the family has regular and permanent access to quality food in sufficient quantity.
“We’re not talking about individuals, we’re talking about people living in households that have a level of food security or insecurity,” emphasizes IBGE researcher André Martins.
Mild food insecurity affects 14.3 million families (43.6 million people) and signifies concern or uncertainty about future food, as well as consumption of inadequate-quality food that does not compromise the quantity of food. Moderate food insecurity affects 4.2 million families (11.9 million people) and demonstrates a quantitative reduction in food among adults and/or disruption in eating patterns due to lack of food among adults.
The food security situation in Brazil is worse than that observed in 2013. In that year, food security was guaranteed in 77.4% of households, while mild food insecurity affected 14.8% of households, moderate insecurity 4.6%, and severe insecurity 3.2%.
“Hunger is linked to extreme poverty and income inequality. Brazil has sufficient food, but lack of access to food produces data like this,” said Najla Veloso, coordinator of the project Sustainable School Feeding Regional Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, executed under the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Program, in an interview with the JR 15 minutes podcast.
In the interview, Najla highlighted regional inequalities in Brazil, the fact that rural areas also face this reality, and mentioned that households led by women suffer more from hunger. However, she stated that the data show a retreat of hunger in the country. “This shows that there is efficacy and efficiency in the social policies adopted to address this reality.” For the specialist, this decrease reflects a “prioritization of the agenda to combat hunger and extreme poverty.”
Social programs and policies
Najla highlighted social policies that have positively impacted the scenario, such as Bolsa Família, with its conditional cash transfer that increases families’ purchasing power, job and income generation, lower food inflation, minimum wage increase, food banks and community restaurants, and the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), which encourages public purchases from small farmers, among other actions.
“The issue of food and nutritional security involves a set of actions that need to be addressed. These adopted policies not only help combat poverty but also impact infant mortality rates, improve female participation in the labor market, enhance educational outcomes, and reduce regional inequalities,” she commented. “It is a complex problem that requires complex solutions.”
School feeding policy
Regarding hunger in children and youth, Najla Veloso commented that schools are one of the most sustainable ways to address the situation. “In Brazil, schools are served by a National School Feeding Program (PNAE) that benefits around 40 million students every day and is now a policy regulated from a nutritional perspective, ensuring real food is offered,” she said.
“This policy, in addition to having guidelines for access to healthy and adequate food, includes a component of purchasing products from family farming. It is a very powerful policy in meeting students’ nutritional needs in schools, improving the quality of food offered, and even having the aspect of providing conditions for family farmers to increase their income.”
Content adapted by the RAES Team from a publication by Agencia Brasil.
