On Thursday afternoon, June 20, the Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil, Daniel Balaban, took part in the virtual event celebrating the 15th anniversary of the School Feeding Law in Brazil (Law 11.947/2009). The event was organized by the National Education Development Fund (FNDE), with the support of the South-South Cooperation Programme developed between the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and was attended by different representatives of the Brazilian government and Latin American and Caribbean countries.
With the aim of call attention to the innovations and results that the Brazilian law has brought to Brazil and the entire region, the event featured testimonies from national and international actors who highlighted the importance of school feeding for the country’s development and the influence of Brazilian legislation on the implementation of school feeding policies and programmes throughout Latin America. In a video interview, the ambassador for School Feeding and first lady of Brazil, Janja Lula da Silva, said that treating school feeding as a state policy means ensuring that children and young people are fed and well nourished, and that healthy and nutritious meals are fundamental for family food security and the reduction of inequalities.
During the event, the coordinator of the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), Karine Santos, presented a brief history of the law in Brazil and underlined the advances that have taken place over the last 15 years, such as the creation of special menus, the flexibility of food deliveries in emergencies or public calamities and the strengthening of the School Feeding Councils (CAE). According to the president of the FNDE, Fernanda Pacobahyba, the legislation has been effective as an instrument of social protection, improving school attendance and encouraging healthy habits. On the occasion, the president launched the CAE Social Participation Award 2024, which aims to highlight the participation of School Feeding Councils in the implementation of the PNAE in Brazil.
In the context of Latin America and the Caribbean, the focus was the influence that the Brazilian law had on the development of public policies and school feeding programmes throughout the region. “Brazil’s legislation is a model for all countries; it laid the foundations for how school feeding should be implemented throughout the world,” said Ana Carolina Baez, School Feeding Manager in the Dominican Republic. Brazil also played a key role in implementing the school feeding policy in São Tomé and Príncipe. “With the support of the Brazilian government and the World Food Programme, the first law on the subject was created, which established the National School Feeding and Health Programme (PNASE),” said Emanuel Montóia, coordinator of PNASE.
Law 11.947/2009 and the PNAE
Around 40 million Brazilian students now benefit from Law 11.947/2009. The law guarantees that all students enrolled in public schools in the country have access to school meals and stipulates that at least 30 per cent of government transfers must be earmarked for the purchase of family farming products. For Daniel Balaban, Director of the Centre of Excellence against Hunger, the measure is essential to promote local agriculture. “Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that has a legal provision for the purchase of school meals from family farms, a practice that is now covered by the UN, showing the importance of buying locally to boost agriculture in each country,” he says.
As evidence of the strength of Brazil’s school feeding policy, he mentioned Brazil’s participation in the co-chairmanship of the Global School Feeding Coalition, alongside France and Finland. “Brazil is an example, everyone wants to understand how we managed to create something that has been so successful. It’s important that the Brazilian population defends public policies like the National School Feeding Programme,” said Daniel Balaban.
More than 50 million meals a day are provided by the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), which covers around 150,000 public schools, 250,000 teachers and 9,000 nutritionists, spread across 5,570 municipalities, 26 states and the Federal District, in a joint and decisive action to support the fight against hunger in the national territory.