The Ministry of Education, through the National Fund for Education Development (FNDE), the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC/MRE), the World Food Programme (WFP) Centre of Excellence against Hunger and the French government signed a Declaration of Intent on 18 September in Fortaleza to expand South-South and Trilateral cooperation on school feeding.
The signing took place at an event held during the 2nd Global Summit of the School Meals Coalition, which brought together authorities from around 80 countries in the capital of Ceará.
The initiative seeks to support countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean in the formulation and implementation of public policies that promote food security, nutrition, health and education, using the Brazilian model of the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE) as a reference.
The agreement provides for joint technical training actions, exchange missions, study visits, development of knowledge products and support for the formulation and monitoring of national school feeding programmes. The partnership also reinforces the commitment of Brazil and France as co-chairs of the Global Coalition for School Feeding, which seeks to ensure a daily meal for all school-age children by 2030.
For the signatory institutions, the new cooperation represents a strategic step in the fight against hunger and poverty, in strengthening family farming and in promoting sustainable food systems, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.