World Food Day: Brazil launches programs to achieve zero hunger

Brasil de Fato

Brazil’s federal government launched two programs on World Food Day, Wednesday (16): the National Agroecology and Organic Production Plan (PLANAPO, in Portuguese) and the National Food Supply Plan. The ceremony took place at the Planalto Palace in Brasília.

The Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers’ Party) demanded commitment from the ministries to make the plans launched a reality. “Ministers and civil society organizations that helped build this program know that, from now on, we must work hard to implement it. Because once it’s announced, it can’t be a dead word, it has to happen,” he said. “I’ll be there for you,” he warned.

The PLANAPO program is in its third edition and was created by a specific commission made up of 21 government bodies, including 14 ministries and 21 civil society organizations. It contains the guidelines for an agroecological transition in Brazilian agriculture.

The Food Supply program is a new initiative that seeks to design a series of actions to ensure that the population has access to adequate food.

The President of the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security, Elizabeta Recine, defended quality food and overcoming the current model of food production, stating that “it is urgent to overcome this way of producing food that is one of the main contributors to the climate crisis,” adding that both government and society have to move “forward with commitment, budget and effective practices to transform our food system.”

The program Arroz da Gente (People’s Rice in a rough translation) was also announced. It was created in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger to expand rice production by family farmers.

A certain delay

Society organizations celebrated the achievement, but the launch was delayed. The Planapo program was put on hold for months due to the refusal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA, in Portuguese) to sign the plan, which contains the National Program for the Reduction of Pesticides.

After some time, the Ministry agreed to include the Reduction of Pesticides Program as a guideline for reducing the use of pesticides in Brazil. The content of the program itself, however, has yet to be released.
The Minister of Agrarian Development, Paulo Teixeira, also addressed reducing the use of pesticides, banning substances already banned in other countries, and replacing them with bio-inputs.

“The PLANAPO Program will also promote the start of a new stage in the replacement of highly toxic and dangerous pesticides. A number of chemicals that have already been banned in Europe and the US are still widely used here in Brazil, and these chemicals will have to be replaced by biological ones,” announced Teixeira. “Best of all, bio-inputs are able to guarantee high productivity and high quality at a lower cost.