Government launches program to remove Brazil from the Hunger Map – 08/30/2023 – Market

The government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is going to track down families in a situation of severe food insecurity and intends to create a permanent monitoring system for malnutrition, with the aim of putting Brazil back on the exit track of the Hunger Map.

In an interview with Sheetthe Minister of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Wellington Dias (PT), predicts that the country will be on this path by 2026, when the data should already show an improvement in relation to the current scenario.

To accelerate the improvement of the indicators, the Executive launches this Thursday (31) the plan “Brasil Sem Fome”, which includes programs already in execution and new initiatives to reduce the food insecurity of the population.

Brazil left the list of countries on the Hunger Map in 2014, under the Dilma Rousseff (PT) government, but returned in 2018, in an unprecedented setback in the world, according to specialists.

The most recent FAO report (an arm of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), released in July, shows that about 10.1 million Brazilians went hungry in the period from 2020 to 2022 – the equivalent of 4.7 % of the population.

Exiting the Hunger Map depends on the country recording a rate below 2.5% of the population of Brazilians facing chronic food shortages over a period of three years. This means reducing the number of hungry people to around 5.5 million.

Dias says he believes that, in 2026, this number will already be reached, but perhaps not yet on the triennial basis used by the FAO in the classification of the Map.

From a formal point of view, the government’s goal is to leave the registry again by 2030, but the PT administration wants to try to accelerate the improvement of indicators.

“The president wants us to work to reduce hunger, reduce poverty already in this mandate. [O objetivo] is to arrive at, at the very least, a measurement [abaixo dos 2,5%] in this mandate. I’m optimistic. I think we have a good chance,” said the minister.

Another objective of the plan is to reduce the percentage of households in severe food insecurity to less than 5%. According to FAO, the prevalence of severe food insecurity in the country was 9.9% between 2020 and 2022, which represents 21 million inhabitants.

The government also wants to decrease, year by year, the poverty rate of the population. “We are going to remove Brazil from the Hunger Map again and we are going to reduce poverty in Brazil year by year. And I say that we will already have positive results starting this year, with a reduction in hunger”, stated Dias .

The details of the “Brazil without Hunger” plan were presented to Lula in a meeting at the Planalto Palace this Wednesday (30).

The official launch will take place this Thursday in Piauí, homeland of the Minister of Social Development and where, in early 2003, the Zero Hunger program was inaugurated, one of Lula’s first social banners when he assumed his first term.

Dias points out that the reformulation of Bolsa Família was an important step towards reducing hunger in the country. The program today guarantees a minimum value of R$ 142 per member of the beneficiary family, in addition to transfers focused on children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women.

According to the minister, the strengthening of income transfers allowed 18.5 million people to escape this year from the poverty line, which is R$ 218 per person.

However, payment of the benefit is not enough to resolve the most serious situations. Therefore, the strategy is to expand the articulation of existing programs in the Union, states and municipalities to increase the efficiency of measures to combat hunger.

One of the measures of the plan is the prediction of greater integration between the SUS (Single Health System) and SUAS (Single Social Assistance System) networks.

Today, a citizen who seeks care at a UBS (Basic Health Unit) and presents with malnutrition is often medicated and discharged. “Now, [a UBS] communicates to the SUAS network”, said the minister.

According to him, the idea is that the citizen is referred to Cras (Social Assistance Reference Center) or receives a visit from a social worker.

If he is not a beneficiary of any program, he will be included in the Single Registry, according to the registration criteria. If you already receive some income transfer, you will have the complement of other policies.

“They will receive a basic basket, or they will be assisted by the Food Acquisition Program, which we buy there in their region, and they are included in the list of assisted families. It can be in a popular restaurant, in a solidarity kitchen, or receiving hot food”, exemplifies Dias.

The government also wants to use the Cadastro Único to map Bolsa Família beneficiaries who, in theory, have access to food, judging by the value of the income transfer, but are still excluded from other programs, which ends up generating a greater commitment of income to other programs. expenses other than buying food.

“Which families have to spend this money that we transfer with energy and are not included in the social tariff? [programa que isenta a conta de luz para a baixa renda]? Or do they spend it on rent and are not in Minha Casa, Minha Vida? “, She explained.

In another initiative, the plan envisages reinforcing school meals, especially in the context of a forecast increase in the number of day care centers and full-time schools. “This idea goes hand in hand with another powerful program, which is government purchases from family farming,” added Dias.

According to him, the objective is that the food supply of the public network (schools, universities, hospitals, the Army, popular restaurants) reaches the level of 30% of local products. Today, the percentage is only 5%.

In addition to optimizing the articulation between the programs, the government works to develop constant monitoring of hunger in the country.

Currently, the government monitors this scenario based on FAO indicators or surveys carried out by groups of researchers, such as the Penssan Network (Brazilian Research Network on Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security).

Surveys by the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), such as the Demographic Census and Pnad Contínua, bring data on income and poverty, but the government seeks monitoring that is more focused on the issue of hunger.

Wellington Dias’ team has been dialoguing with IBGE and Ipea (Institute of Applied Economic Research) in search of a way to incorporate the FAO methodology into their research routines.

With this, Brazil could obtain a more current measure of malnutrition and, at the same time, regionalized, directing efforts to places where the problem is more serious.

From now on, however, the MDS is working to filter data from CadÚnico and produce statistics on food insecurity by municipality, broken down by gender, age group and race — something unprecedented in the country.

“Brasil Sem Fome” should not generate new public expenses. Dias stated that the idea is to continue adopting measures to avoid fraud and irregularities in the registration of social programs, especially Bolsa Família.

“The authorization that Congress gave us [para ampliar os gastos sociais] fills us with a lot of responsibility to avoid fraud”, he said.

The government will invest in a system to gather data from social programs. With this, there will be room in the Budget to strengthen existing public policies.

“We all know that the social aspect is also part of the economic strategy,” stated Dias, noting that he maintains constant dialogue with ministers Fernando Haddad (Finance) and Simone Tebet (Planning), as well as Lula.

This means, in the minister’s view, that the increase in income of the poorest generates heating up of economic activity and wealth for the country.

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UNDERSTAND THE ‘BRAZIL WITHOUT HUNGER’ PLAN

What is it?

Brasil Sem Fome is a plan that brings together more than 90 programs and actions of the federal government, in addition to mobilizing other Powers and spheres of government, with the objective of removing the country from the Hunger Map again. The program is inspired by past initiatives, such as Fome Zero and Brasil Sem Miséria, and was developed within the framework of Sisan (National Food and Nutrition Security System).

What are the main goals?

• Remove Brazil from the Hunger Map by 2030 (minister talks about improvement in the picture already in this mandate, until 2026)

• Reduce year-on-year total poverty rates

• Reduce to less than 5% the percentage of households in a situation of severe food insecurity (indicator stood at 9.9% between 2020 and 2022)

What are the main strategies?

• Increased disposable income to buy food

• Active search for families to be included in income transfer programs, such as Bolsa Família, or food distribution

• Creation of guidelines and orientations to ensure that people who suffer from hunger in Brazil are properly identified and assisted in the SUS, SUAS and SISAN

• Expansion of public food facilities, with accreditation of solidarity kitchens to receive and distribute food from the PAA (Food Acquisition Program)

• Resumption, improvement and expansion of programs to strengthen family farming, including through credit

• Information and mobilization of society, other powers and other federative entities to eradicate hunger

• Creation of a public panel to publicize initiatives to combat hunger developed by civil society

How will Brasil Sem Fome be monitored?

Based on data from the Cadastro Único, the government will produce indicators on the number of people experiencing severe food insecurity by municipality, broken down by age group, sex and color/race, something unprecedented in Brazil.

The government is also discussing with IBGE a way of obtaining an overview of the population’s food security based on existing surveys.

There is also a plan to create a working group on Indicators and Monitoring, to closely monitor the specific goals of Brasil Sem Fome.