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Institutional framework and public policies for food and
nutrition security and sovereignty in Brazil*
Renato S. Maluf**
Abstract
This paper examines the dynamics and conceptual basis of the current creation
of the National Policy for Food and Nutrition Security along with the evolution of
the National System that is supposed to provide an institutional framework for
implementing actions and programmes. In order to focus on the dynamics of
rural transformation in Brazil, this paper pays special attention to the
connections between the questions of food and of family farming.
Introduction
This study examines the conceptual basis and main requirements in terms of
institutions and public policies to promote food and nutrition security and
sovereignty. Its main reference is the process of building the National System
and Policy for Food and Nutrition Security in Brazil, envisaged under the
Organic Law for Food and Nutrition Security (Lei Orgânica da Segurança
Alimentar e Nutricional - LOSAN, Law No. 11346/ 2006).
This approach is based on three main assumptions. First, Brazil has shown a
significant improvement in almost all the social indicators related to poverty,
hunger and malnutrition (quantitative dimensions). However, it is necessary to
keep in mind the underlying economic and social processes behind this
improvement (qualitative dimensions) in order to understand its significance and
implications. Secondly, food and nutrition security is taken as a permanent and
strategic goal of public policies that are formulated in the light of the principles
* Paper presented at the International Conference Dynamics of Rural Transformation in
Emerging Economies. April 14-16, 2010, New Delhi, India. Translated from original text written in Portuguese. ** Professor of the Social Science Graduate Programme on Development, Agriculture and
Society (CPDA), Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), Brazil. President of the National Council on Food and Nutrition Security (CONSEA), Brazil, 2007-2011.
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of food sovereignty and the human right to adequate nutrition. The promotion of
this goal contributes towards ensuring that the processes mentioned above are
more equitable and sustainable. Finally, it is crucial to have a systemic
institutional framework that makes it possible to formulate and implement inter-
sectorial policies with effective social participation in order to promote food and
nutrition security in its multiple dimensions (Maluf, 2007).
The recent international food crisis has once again brought food and agriculture
to the forefront of the international agenda. Brazil could play a prominent role in
this debate, being a leading player in the global food system. This same reason
expands the nation's possibilities in terms of contributing towards overcoming
critical aspects of this system. References to Brazil use to highlight its being a
major producer and exporter of agro-food products. Nonetheless, attention
should also be given to the policies that it implements in related areas such as
family farming, food and nutrition. In order to better understand this prominence,
however, it is essential to keep in mind its condition as a "large country", a
relevant differentiating factor that has significant socio-economic implications as
well as implications in terms of its international role and political and institutional
capacity.
As has been analysed in another study (Maluf and Burlandy, 2007), Brazil is a
large and rich nation, which still has significant inequalities. It is a prime
example of what can be classified as a "large mid-income country". The
condition of being a large country on account of its large population highlights
the economic advantages of the size of the domestic market and the
possibilities thus afforded for the diversification of the productive structure
(Perkings and Syrquin, 1989). This is further compounded by the breadth of
territory with implications in terms of the availability of natural resources,
regional diversity and decentralised strategies. Set within these indicators, the
classification of "mid-income" seeks to differentiate the nations grouped under
the euphemism of "developing nations", creating an intermediary status
between advanced nations and countries that are situated on the periphery of
the global economic system.
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By combining the criteria indicated, South Africa, Brazil, China and India
emerge as the main examples of large mid-income countries. The geopolitical
ingredients of this differentiation are nowadays quite evident, owing to the role
played by these countries and the impact of their performances at a regional
and international level.
Equally relevant for the theme of this paper, it can be presumed that large mid-
income countries have a differentiated institutional capacity in the various fields
of public action (or have greater possibilities of developing such a capacity),
albeit with quite different trajectories in this respect. This condition is even more
relevant when one considers the lack of capacity evidenced by a fair number of
nations to deal with the recent international food crisis, mainly due to the legacy
of the period of structural adjustments in the 80s and 90s. Institutional capacity
– which is manifested in governmental structures as well as in the non-
governmental sphere – is particularly important in determining a nation's
possibilities in the field of social policies, as will be seen in the analysis of these
policies in Brazil.
This paper is divided into three topics and a section with final observations. The
first part contains an overview of the main concepts that have been adopted in
Brazil while creating the national system and policy for food and nutrition
security, along with a description of the directives for what would be a national
policy for food and nutrition security and some of the programmes and actions
that would comprise this policy. The second section examines elements from
the international and national context that serve as a backdrop for the creation
of such a policy and system. The third section analyses some repercussions of
the questions that have been presented in terms of the dynamics of rural
transformation. The final observations seek to highlight, in this context, the
strategic nature of the issue, the importance of the institutional framework and
the role played by the notions of human rights and sovereignty in the debate
about the dynamics of rural transformation.
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The food security system and policy: concepts and institutions
As mentioned in the introduction, food and nutrition security has emerged as a
goal of public policies formulated in the light of the principles of food sovereignty
and the human right to adequate nutrition.
The definition of Food and Nutrition Security (Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional
- SAN) consecrated in the 2006 legislation was the product of a long and
widespread social debate in Brazil: "Food and nutrition security is the realisation
of the right - to which everyone is entitled - of having regular and permanent
access to quality food, in a sufficient quantity, without compromising access to
other essential needs, based on food practices that promote health, which
respect cultural diversity and which are socially, economically and
environmentally sustainable.”
The same law states that: "Adequate nutrition is a fundamental right of human
beings, inherent to the dignity of human people and indispensable for realising
the rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution. The public authorities must
adopt the policies and actions that prove necessary to promote and guarantee
the food and nutrition security of the population." In February 2009 the National
Congress promulgated Constitutional Amendment 64, which included nutrition
amongst the social rights stipulated in Article 6 of the Federal Constitution. The
dimension of food sovereignty appeared in a subsequent article of the aforesaid
Organic Law, which states that, "In order to achieve the human right to
adequate nutrition and food and nutrition security it is essential to respect
sovereignty, which affords nations the primacy of their decisions with regard to
the production and consumption of foodstuffs."
Brazil has made important progress in terms of the institutional framework that
supports programmes and actions related to food and nutrition security.
However, it does not yet have a National Policy for SAN (Política Nacional de
SAN - PNSAN), which is being formulated simultaneously along with the
construction of the National System for Food and Nutrition Security (Sistema
Nacional de SAN - SISAN), which is an indispensable institutional framework for
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implementing the policy. Both reflect the importance that has been attributed to
food and nutrition security in Brazil, which is characterised as being a systemic
and inter-sectorial issue integrating the three governmental levels, and including
social participation as a constituting element for formulating, implementing and
monitoring the policy and the system.
The signing by President Lula of the Presidential Decree 7272/2010
establishing the national policy for SAN represented an important step
determining the development, by July 2011, of the corresponding plan. This
policy is not starting from zero, having the existing programs and activities as its
starting point. Even so, it is assumed that the definition of goals, resources and
commitments is gradual, with its rhythm and amplitude determined by the
degree of involvement of multiple policy systems and sectors of the federal
government, state and local governments and also of society. It was already
mentioned that the dynamic operation of SISAN involves decision-making
processes more complexes than the sectoral systems. That means peculiar
criteria to ensuring the diversity of representation in coordination spaces (e.g.
CONSEA) and cross-sectors procedures to implementing and monitoring
integrated actions (e.g. CAISAN) at the various levels of governance.
The use of a systemic perspective to approach food and nutrition security is a
relatively recent phenomenon in Brazil, where the concepts have been
developed simultaneously with initiatives that seek to organise the state's
actions in this field by instituting the SISAN. Functioning on two simultaneous
planes, the systemic focus is, at the same time, an analytical tool and an
organisational principle. The assumption that reality has a systemic nature
affords the perspective of being able to boost synergetic gains in the
relationship between the elements that comprise the system by means of the
institutionalisation and further development of these relations. This perspective
is aware that a system is a set of elements that evolves with contradictions and
hence contains elements that have the potential to give rise to conflicts. It also
allows the possibility of open solutions, since human actions are made in an
environment of uncertainty, involve "unintended consequences" and reflect the
role played by experience, i.e. by individual and collective learning. In short, it is
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a question of contemplating conflicting and unbalanced systemic dynamics,
open solutions and the role of learning (Burlandy, et al., 2006)1.
Similarly, the inter-sectorial perspective is a result of the understanding that the
food and nutritional condition of individuals, families and social groups is
determined by a set of factors which implies that public policies should go
beyond sectorial initiatives. Actions and programmes must reflect an integrated
view since its very making, as well as in the institutional framework and
implementing. In fact the recent incorporation of the systemic paradigm was
derived, on the one hand, from the inter-sectorial perspective - there is an
important set of questions that cannot be understood and resolved in isolation
since they are interlinked and interdependent. On the other hand, this is in
keeping with the tendency to institute systems for public policies that can be
seen in various areas of the government in Brazil (idem).
The SISAN is aimed at organising and monitoring the public actions and
policies of the diverse governmental and non-governmental sectors, articulated
into a policy of food and nutrition security implemented at the national, state and
municipal levels. Thus, the inter-sectorial nature of the SAN consists of the
capacity of the various sectors of the government and society to engage in a
dialogue, so as to act upon the same socio-spatial context or territory.
This articulation among governmental sectors can take place in at least two
ways: a) multi-sectoral - in which each sector identifies programmes that are
priorities in terms of their scope of actions to achieve a broader governmental
objective (such as the SAN); and b) inter-sectoral - a method in which the
diverse sectors build an integrated project jointly and in agreement, with a view
to achieving broader objectives (such as the SAN) (Burlandy et al., 2006).
The characteristic attributed to the SISAN is quite different from the systems -
which, in contrast, are known as "closed systems" - that organise and
implement specific policies or programmes with their own budgetary funds and
1 This concept is radically different from the closed solutions that are characteristic of some
formalised uses of the systemic approach.
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objectives confined to the sector itself. The fairly common practice of seeking to
achieve sectoral and even supra-sectoral objectives by means of partnerships
with other sectors is a step forward with regard to closed systems, such as in
the aforesaid method of multi-sectoral integration. Nevertheless, it still falls short
of the inter-sectorality propounded for the SISAN.
This kind of inter-sectorality complicates the construction and dynamics of the
system's working, especially the mechanisms for coordination responsible for
sharing objectives, goals and resources. Coordinating the actions of different
sectors of the public administration and the actions of these sectors and civil
society involves a complex process of articulation and negotiation among
sectoral policy systems and between them and civil society organisations. A
system like this has a lesser degree of autonomy (self-sufficiency) with regard
to the context in which it is inserted.
This characteristic of the SISAN is related to the intention of the National Policy
for Food and Nutrition Security (PNSAN) to suggest directives and propose
integrated actions involving participants from diverse systems or decision
making processes (health, education, agriculture, the environment, etc.). This
concept makes it a "policy of policies", i.e. a policy that materialises by means
of a set of programmes and actions involving diverse sectors of government as
well as organisations from civil society.
As has been mentioned above, the respective mechanisms or means of
coordination, "agreement" or "harmonisation" of different sectorial views and
interests play a decisive role in a supra-sectorial system and policy. The
Organic Law pertaining to food and nutrition security has attributed this role, in
the national plan, to the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security
(Conselho Nacional de SAN - CONSEA) with regard to the relationship between
the state and civil society, and to the Inter-Ministerial Chamber for Food and
Nutrition Security (Câmara Interministerial de SAN - CAISAN), in terms of
coordination within the government. Both these entities are guided by the
directives that are established in National Conferences held every four years.
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The law has also stipulated the creation of analogous institutions in the state
and municipal spheres, as shown in Diagram 12. While also serving as the basis
for a significant degree of decentralisation with regard to public policies, the
federative pact in Brazil restricts the possibility of the national sphere
determining the involvement of the other federated entities. In such a situation,
this involvement will be promoted by the new constitutional mandate, which
includes food amongst social rights.
Diagram 1 - National System for Food and Nutrition Security (LOSAN -
Law No. 11.346 / 2006)
2 There are CONSEAs in all the states of the federation and in the Federal District. However,
many face difficulties in being recognised by local authorities and in terms of their capacity to have an impact on public policies. The same limitation has ensured that the creation of inter-sectorial councils by the state governments is still at a nascent stage. There are about 600 municipal CONSEAs.
National
Conference
CONSEA CAISAN
Public Policy Systems
(agriculture, health, education, social
development, environment, ...)
National Policy for FNS
CONSEA
Municipal-
level
Inter-sectoral
Chamber
State Policy for FNS
Municipal Policy for FNS
State
Conference
CONSEA
State-level
Inter-sectoral
chamber
Municipal
Conference
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The concepts and the institutional framework presented above comprise the
reference for the process of formulating the SAN policy and building the SAN
system - processes that are currently underway in Brazil. This is perforce a
gradual process since inter-sectoral coordination is an unprecedented initiative.
However, it is entirely justified, since such coordination contributes towards: a)
Improving the quality of the programmes that go beyond the limits of the
sectorial sphere with regard to the objects of their actions; b) Strengthening the
area of food and nutrition security in the diverse governmental sectors that are
involved; c) Identifying shortcomings or lacunae in the actions; and d)
Highlighting and equating different visions of programmes that are interfaced
with each other, a process in which social participation plays a decisive role.
Based on the directives of a national policy issued at the III National Conference
(2007) and the recent appraisal of government actions (CAISAN, 2009), Table 1
below provides an overview of the eight directives (with the respective
programmes and actions) for a future National Policy for Food and Nutrition
Security, as proposed in discussions within the scope of the CAISAN and the
CONSEA.
With regard to monitoring the programmes and actions, it is important to
highlight the methodology developed by the CONSEA to define a "food and
nutrition security budget". Even though it is not a formal component of the
official federal budget, this budget plays an important role in social monitoring
and in the presentation of demands for resources by the Council3. The focus on
the different budgetary sources of the various programmes comprised by the
national policy is due to criticism about constituting a "food and nutrition security
fund" which poses the risk of a "sectoralisation" of responsibilities, with a
consequent reduction in the commitment of government sectors with an inter-
sectoral objective.
3 The budget for food and nutrition security, the annual applications for resources and the
assessments of the budgetary implementation by the Council are available at: www.presidencia.gov.br/consea.
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Table 1 Directives, programmes and actions for a national policy for
food and nutrition security
Directive 1: Promote universal access to a healthy and adequate nutrition giving priority to family and individuals in food and nutrition insecurity
Directive 2: Promote food provisioning through the structuring of sustainable and decentralized systems of agroecology-based production, extraction, processing and distribution of food
Directive 3: Institute permanent processes for education and training on food and nutrition security and the human right to adequate food
Directive 4: Promote, universalize and coordinate actions for food and nutrition security aimed at maroons and other traditional people and communities as well as indigenous people and settlements of agrarian reform
Directive 5: Strengthen food and nutrition actions at all levels of health services, in articulation with other policies aimed at achieving food and nutrition security
Directive 6: Promoting universal access to good quality and sufficient water, with priority to water insecure families and to the production of foodstuffs by family farming, fishing and aquaculture
Directive 7: Supporting initiatives to promote food and nutrition sovereignty and security and the human right to adequate food in international negotiations
Directive 8: Monitoring the realization of the right to adequate food
The international context
Apart from the challenges that are inherent to these complex processes, the
building up of the system and policy for food and nutrition security obviously
reflect the international and national contexts. The global context is
characterised by a confluence of crises - food, economic, environmental
(climate) and energetic crises - with different timings and amplitudes. These are
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systemic crises and hence require equally systemic solutions that, moreover,
must consider the interfaces between them. In this context, the global food
crisis was more than a temporary imbalance between demand and supply of
foodstuffs that resulted in soaring prices between 2006 and 2008. The systemic
nature of the crisis is visible in diverse phenomena underlying these soaring
prices, which have brought to the forefront the questioning of many components
of the model around which the global food system is organised.
The debate about the depth and deployments of the food crisis has been
overshadowed by the global economic crisis that occurred at about the same
time, i.e. from the second half of 2008 onwards. However, the world continues
to face restrictions in terms of access to food by the poorest segments of the
population on account of insufficient income or productive resources, as well as
the restrictions faced by nations that do not have a sufficient capacity to import
the food that they do not produce themselves or have ceased to produce. Both
these factors limiting access to foodstuffs were aggravated by the economic
crisis and have also been affected by the prices of foodstuffs, which have not
returned to the level at which they were before 2006.
According to the FAO (2010), even though they have fallen as compared to the
peaks witnessed in 2008, the average international prices for food in May 2009
were 24% higher than those in effect in 2006 and the risk of volatility in food
prices was still very much present. In December 2009 the FAO Food Index
touched its highest level since September 2008, triggered by the prices of
sugar, edible oils and milk products. The prices of wheat and corn stabilised
during the second half of 2009, at a level corresponding to 55% and 40% of the
peak witnessed in 2008, in contrast to the rise in rice prices, which are today
only 37% below the peak witnessed during the crisis.
It cannot be definitively said that the world has entered an era of more-
expensive food, however, it is a fact that foodstuffs, and with them agriculture,
returned to the centre of global debates. Going beyond price fluctuations, recent
debates are pointing to the increasing volatility of the international food prices
that creates an instable environment causing food insecurity.
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For deepening the diagnosis of the present context, one should include
questions regarding the production, distribution and consumption of foodstuffs.
The following aspects are at the forefront of the debates:
i. The social and environmental repercussions of the productive
agricultural model, whose expansion uses to be presented as the solution
to the growing global demand for food; integrate this logic purchases of
large extensions of land by foreign investors (land grabbing) and the
impairment of rights of family farmers and peasants;
ii. The loss of confidence in international trade as a source of food security
and the apparent erosion of the bases of trade negotiations under the
Doha Round of WTO;
iii. The reduction in the capacity of public regulation of markets in the light
of increasing oligopolistic control by large corporations in all segments of
agro-food chains;
iv. The commodification of foodstuffs to a degree that has transformed the
main food products into commodities which are subject to international
financial speculation;
v. Unsustainable consumption patterns and food habits which are harmful
to human health and which predominate around the world.
Different solutions are possible for the challenges raised by this scenario. A sort
of “more-of-the-same” solution that incorporate and even further develop the
current bases of the global food system have predominated. Nonetheless, there
are a variety of alternative solutions tending towards supporting dynamics and
models that modify current production and food consumption patterns in a way
that contemplates related concerns in the social and environmental / climatic
fields, while likewise considering the interface with the energy matrix.
Social equity, sustainable production, agro-ecology, environmental justice and
an adequate and healthy food are some of the references that are to be
articulated in strategies and policies. As a leading player in the global food
system, Brazil can (and must) contribute towards this process, both in terms of
the domestic policies it adopts as well as going beyond the strict perspective of
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seeking the benefits that it is capable of reaping as a huge exporter in an
expanding global market.
The national context
Although the immediate impact of the food and economic crises on Brazil has
been significant it does not seem to have jeopardised the aforesaid tendency
that has been witnessed in recent years of a consistent improvement in the
social indicators - including nutrition indicators. The Brazilian population's
capacity to access food has been expanded considerably with an increase in
the purchasing power of the poorest segments, as demonstrated by the
reductions that have taken place in terms of the inequality of labour incomes
(including pension and social security benefits) and lower percentages of poor
and indigent citizens. There is still a way to go, because these afflictions ensure
that Brazil continues to be one of the most unequal nations in the world (IPEA,
2009).
Access to food was seriously affected in various parts of the world during the
period when international prices peaked. Despite being one of the largest global
producers and exporters of foodstuffs, Brazil also experienced a significant
repercussion of high international prices, which were reflected in domestic
prices. The annual consumer price index for the basic basket of foodstuffs in 16
state capitals, during the period when the crisis was at its height, rose from
27.24% to 51.85% between June 2007 and May 2008. The average cost of
acquiring that basic basket came to represent 57.18% of the official minimum
wage in December 2008 (DIEESE, 2010).
A substantial reduction was also recorded in the hunger and infant malnutrition
indicators, reflected in a drop in infant mortality and anthropometric deficits. The
National Demographic and Child and Women's Health Survey (Pesquisa
Nacional de Demografia e Saúde da Criança e da Mulher - PNDS/IBGE)
revealed a reduction of 44% in the infant mortality rate during the period 1996-
2006. Complementary data collected by The Familiy Budget Survey 2008-09
(Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares - POF/IBGE) confirmed the significant
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decreasing of infant under-nutrition, recording height/age and weight/age ratio
deficits in children (05 to 09 years) of 6,8% and 4,1%, respectively. For the
youth (10 to 19 years) the déficit in weight was 3.4%, while in adults it was 3,7%
for men and 4,0% for women (IBGE/POF 2009).
The first national use of the Brazilian Scale for Food Insecurity (Escala
Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar - EBIA/IBGE), in 2004, revealed that 65.0%
of households (33.6 million; 109.2 million people) had food security while there
was food insecurity in 24.8% of households (18 million; 72.2 million people),
distributed as follows: 16% with slight insecurity (compromising on the quality of
food); 12.3% with moderate insecurity (compromising on the quantity of food)
and 6.5% with serious insecurity (experiencing periods of hunger). The most
recent use of EBIA, in 2009, showed some improvement in numbers as a result
of the impact of social policies, recording 69.8% of households (40.9 million;
126.1 million people) in food security while 30.2% (17.7 million; 65,6 million
people) were food insecure distributed as follows: 18.7% with slight insecurity,
6.5% with moderate insecurity and 5.0% with serious insecurity (IBGE/PNAD,
2010).
In an inverse sense, it is possible to observe a trend towards an increase in
overweight and obese individuals, as well as the prevalence of non-
transmissible chronic diseases. This manifests the food insecurity resulting from
the nutritional and epidemiological transition that is currently underway in Brazil
and in many other countries around the world, in which food consumption is a
primary cause for this phenomenon. In 2009, overweight affected 33,5% of the
children (5 to 9 years), 21,6% of youth (10 to 19 years), 50,1% of adult men and
48% of women. As for obesity, it was observed in 5,9% of boys, 4,0% of girls,
12,5% of adult men and 16,9% of women. These percentages represent
between two and four times the ones observed in 1974-75 (IBGE/POF, 2009).
There is a consensus amongst analysts that public policies have played a
decisive role in the improvements that have been observed in the indicators
related to food and nutrition security, including in the most recent critical context
when they acted as a safeguard against the impact of the food and economic
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crises. The reduction of unemployment levels contributed towards maintaining
and expanding the capacity to access foods, while the continued recovery of the
real value of the official minimum wage and the continued of cash-transfer
programmes likewise played a decisive role in this regard. It is essential to
highlight the implementation and rapid expansion of the Family Grant (Bolsa
Família) programme, which reaches more than 11 million families and is
undoubtedly the most far-reaching tool, which has had an immediate impact on
the nutrition levels (and not just nutrition levels) of the poorest families4.
Access to food by the children of these families has been reinforced further by
the School Meal National Programme, which was significantly modified by
means of legislation approved in 2009. This legislation gave a new direction to
the programme and, amongst other measures, expanded the facility to
secondary school students and to education for youths and adults (providing
daily an estimated 46 million free meals) and making it compulsory to acquire at
least 30% of the food directly from local or regional family farmers (Maluf,
2009a, b).
On the supply side, the role of family farming in the provisioning of food to the
domestic market was also an important factor. More than this, these are rural
families who face the dual condition of having a high incidence of poverty and
even starvation (despite the paradox) while simultaneously being potential
suppliers or producers of food. The data of the 2006 census records the
existence of 4.367 million of farms (84.4% of the total) that can be classified as
family farming. Even though they only occupy 24.3% of the total area, due to
the traditional concentration of land in Brazil, these farms employ 74.4% of
individuals engaged in agriculture (12.3 million individuals) and account for a
significant part or even a majority of the food consumed within the country such
as cassava (87%), beans (70%), corn (46%), rice (34%), milk (58%), pork
(59%) and fowl (50%) (França et al., 2009).
4 A recent assessment of the impact of the Bolsa Família programme showed that the families
spend the revenues they receive mainly on food; this revenue and the free food offered in schools were pointed out as being the main ways in which their children were able to access food (IBASE, 2008).
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It is worth mentioning two programmes aimed at this social grouping. The main
programme is the National Programme for Strengthening Family Farming
(Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar - PRONAF),
which has witnessed a rapid expansion since 2003 achieving nowadays almost
2 million credit contracts per agricultural year. It is undoubtedly a very significant
initiative, including in terms of the aspect of the supply of food. However, it
should be noted that despite this expansion PRONAF does not reach half of
those that have been classified as family farms. There is thus a large segment
of rural family units for which other policy instruments are needed, apart from
conventional agricultural credit, even under the favourable terms extended by
the PRONAF.
On a far smaller scale but nonetheless extremely relevant owing to its
innovative nature and socio-economic impact is the Programme of Food
Acquisition from Family Farming (Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos da
Agricultura Familiar - PAA). Having an inter-sectoral framing proposed by
CONSEA, since it was created within the scope of the Zero Hunger
Programme, in 2003, the PAA has established links between the lack of
markets for family farmers and the increasing demand for foodstuffs due to
social programmes (day-care centres, nurseries, food banks, etc.) and stock
formation . The programme has had a significant impact in the regions in which
it has been implemented, despite the modest numbers as compared to the
universe of family farmers in Brazil: since 2003 the programme has involved a
cumulative total of about 630,000 family farmers and it is estimated that more
than 8 million people have benefited every year thanks to the food acquired
through the PAA (Grisa et al., 2009). Since 2010, PAA has been also playing an
important role in supporting the goal of acquiring from family farmers at least
30% of the food needed for the school meal programme.
As mentioned above, a worrying aspect of the recent food crisis was the
missing of capacity to face its effects by many governments which were
involved in the neo-liberal wave that has spread throughout the world in the past
two decades. Even Brazil, a nation that had various instruments for public
regulation, released its grip on such tools. For the theme discussed in this
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paper, the most important dismantling of tools took place when the country
ceased to exercise a sovereign food provisioning policy, from the early 1990s
onwards. It instead opted for trade liberalisation and denied the need to form
stocks and actively use the agricultural price guarantee schemes, apart from the
scrapping of public wholesale warehouses which formed the national
procurement system, amongst others.
The strategic location of the activities and equipments that comprise the food
provisioning , mediating production and consumption, implies that provisioning
policies are a peerless means of, on the one hand, enabling regular and
permanent access by the population to quality and affordable food, in sufficient
quantities, based on food practices that promote health and respect cultural
diversity. On the other hand, it can simultaneously promote socially equitable
and environmentally sustainable forms of producing, processing, distributing
and consuming food, with an emphasis on family farming and small and
medium urban and rural enterprises (Maluf, 2009c).
It is not hard to imagine the difficulties faced by countries that were unable to
create a food provisioning policy, as was the case with numerous African and
some Latin American nations (Maluf et all, 2009). The recent crisis has resulted
in the re-emergence of a pattern of national regulation of the agro-food
question, in which nation states and their policy instruments for trade and the
support of domestic production are once again playing a prime role with
repercussions in the international context. In this regard, it is possible to note
the frustrated attempts to attribute this role to the trade negotiations taking place
under the aegis of the World Trade Organisation.
At this point one again finds unequal responses to the challenges raised by the
international context. Some nations can or are capable to keep on implementing
their own programmes, since they have institutions, a tradition of public policies
and the necessary resources. However, many other countries do not. This is
perhaps the main challenge nowadays and is a point that must be considered
and emphasised in the context of international cooperation.
18
The food question and rural dynamics
This section will focus more directly on the dynamics of rural transformation
from the viewpoint of the food question, i.e. considering foodstuffs (goods) and
feeding (the way in which these goods are used). This viewpoint is one of the
possible ways of looking at the rural universe, distinct but complementary views
that contribute to the necessary updating of the focus on the rural context.
Contrary to common sense, the proposed perspective from the food question
does not confirm but rather differs from the productivist perspective, since it
reframes the role of agriculture and the rural universe in the production of food.
This perspective requires highlighting the population living in rural areas and
their relationship with nature, while valuing biological and cultural diversity but
simultaneously incorporating elements such as a focus on a healthy life based
on "clean" food. One should note that these references are part of the
approaches to food and nutrition sovereignty and security and the human right
to food5. This section will also shed light on the multiple roles played by rural
families and family agriculture, which go beyond being providers of food
(Cazella et al., (orgs.), 2009). In fact, this emphasis questions the very way of
producing foodstuffs.
Underlying this proposition is the differentiation, present in the rural universe in
Brazil, between the large scale agriculture known as agro-business and a
numerous and quite heterogeneous set of farmers who comprise the category
of family farming. Even though this differentiation relates to models of
agriculture, actually, it goes beyond this aspect when assigning to the category
of family farmers a social and political significance linked to political projects or
even visions of society, especially with regard to ways of occupying the rural
space or developing territories and the relationships with nature.
5 The combination of these references should be easier than it really is, considering the
significant juxtaposition of social actors (social organisations and movements, public managers, etc.) that are active in both fields, i.e. which deal with food and nutrition while simultaneously working to build what has been called a more just, sustainable and solidarity rural Brazil.
19
It is impossible to overlook the economic significance of large scale
monoculture or livestock breeding, especially considering the fact that this
sector is seeking legitimacy precisely based on the service it claims to provide
in the context of increasing demand for food. This connotation is especially
noteworthy in the light of agro-food exports, owing to the historical role they
have played in the Brazilian economy and the growing share of the global
market that Brazil has captured in recent decades. The tendency towards
exporting primary products originating in large properties is one of the main and
constant characteristics of Brazilian history. This is not just due to the natural
resources available in the country but is constantly reaffirmed by the political
power that has been accumulated by an elite class of agrarian exporters.
However, this state of affairs is mired in controversies, which are often
unavoidable, as is the case currently.
One of the controversies concerns the fact that an important component of the
country's economic strategy is based on an agro-food productive model that is
increasingly being questioned both internally as well as externally. To propose
that "more of the same" be done to meet the growing global demand - in fact to
act like a merchant interested in selling more - means insisting on large scale
monoculture production, with an intensive use of agrochemicals and extensive
mechanisation. Brazil became the world greatest market for agrochemicals.
Criticism of this model on account of environmental reasons has further
compounded the longstanding diagnosis affirming that the concentration of land
is one of the main causes for the high rate of social inequality in Brazil. It can be
said in passing that the same criticism can be applied to the production of agro-
energy, since it entails the same agricultural model involving a product that has
a long history of cultivation in the country, i.e. sugarcane.
Another controversy refers to the premise that both the models of agriculture -
family and "patronal" (industrial scale) - can co-exist without relevant
contradictions, owing to the vast territorial extension of the country when
compared to the total number of rural families and individuals engaged in rural
activities. One should clarify that family and patronal farms are not separate
20
worlds as they have economic and social interfaces with ideological
implications. Notwithstanding, the referred assumption based on aggregate
numbers can be questioned in the light of the conflicts (for access to land and
other resources) that can be observed at the territorial level. Even in the
national plan there is friction within the public policies (orientation and division of
resources) and in the regulatory framework of patrimonial rights (permanently
under pressure from ruralists and large corporations).
It is clear that both these controversial points could result in conflict resolution
by means of public regulatory instruments, as has already begun to be done
with regard to the zoning of areas to cultivate sugarcane for the production of
ethanol, the deforestation in the Amazon region and the establishment of
protected areas. However, in a longer timeframe, this said "export vocation" and
the power of a small number of corporations that control the agro-food chains
undoubtedly create obstacles for promoting dynamics such as those highlighted
in this paper. The latter aim to configure more decentralised food systems with
closing links between production and consumption in regional circuits, based on
family-based diversified agriculture, while safeguarding the diversity of food
habits and natural resources6.
Apart from being opposed to the above referred dynamics at a domestic level,
the model of large scale monoculture production could be affected by an
eventual repositioning of the role of the international trade in commodities in the
manner in which it is carried out today. This could result, on the one hand, from
the possible generalisation of the alternative dynamics mentioned above and
the very prospect of adopting sovereign food policies. On the other hand, the
fallacy of free trade, already well known in the theoretical debate, has been
repeatedly confirmed in practice. Under the control of two fundamental and non-
opposing elements, which are the large oligopolies and the policies of the main
advanced nations, the current global food system has already shown, no matter
how large its potential for production, that it is not suitable for promoting regular
6 Owing to space constraints I will not examine other questions, such as the great dependence
on petroleum for producing and circulating foodstuffs and the intense degree of commercialisation and speculation that can be seen with regard to foodstuffs throughout the world
21
access to adequate nutrition by the set of diverse populations, especially in the
southern hemisphere. Apart from this, its agricultural basis has been subjected
to extremely serious accusations from the social and environmental (including
climatic) points of view.
Poverty, inequality and rights are part of the debate about the dynamics of rural
transformation. However, it is necessary to go beyond the limits of the
significance of these references in the rural context. That means using them to
establish links between the rural world and more general social objectives,
including food and nutrition sovereignty and security and the human right to
adequate nutrition. In this sense, a national food provisioning policy with the
approach presented in the previous section could give an important
contribution. Instead of a quantitative vision of provisioning that are limited to
millions of tons produced, i.e. which confuses food provisioning with the
physical availability of goods, it questions the types of goods, the models of
production, the circuits through which they circulate, the food habits they
promote, the determination of prices, etc. Denying the foolish rhetoric of
unregulated markets and in the absence of the regulatory function of the state,
private initiative regulates these and other components of the food system and
does so according to its own logic.
An important part of reviewing the food system consists, precisely, of moving in
the reverse direction of distancing of production and consumption, bringing
these two elements closer instead. This does not imply regional self-sufficiency
in the production of food, a remote possibility and one that would even be of
doubtful convenience. Inter-regional integration makes sense in many cases
and does not make sense in others. There are products that could benefit from
regional advantages, in a nation the size of Brazil. However, this would require
a more general strategic orientation that is the object of a provisioning policy,
with an impact on the territorialisation of programmes such as PRONAF and the
PAA, which are capable of creating territorial dynamics that enhance regional
circuits for production, distribution and consumption.
22
A broader analysis of the rural universe would need to incorporate the
programmes for agrarian reform and programmes aimed at population groups
such as the indigenous people, rural maroon communities (quilombos) and
other groups that are part of the recently institutionalised category of traditional
people and communities.
To enlarge the view of rural Brazil, without overlooking the importance of the
agricultural policy and that of production, it is necessary to dedicate more space
to non-agricultural policies, both in terms of social policies and infrastructure
aimed at improving the living conditions as well as promoting the not strictly
productive roles of rural families7. Agriculture is the activity that constitutes the
very identity of rural families, but the role of the rural universe and the people
who live in it is more than that of production and encompasses providing a
significant set of public assets for society. The notion of the multiple functions of
agriculture reflects this dimension which includes valuing the relationship with
nature, the preservation of biodiversity, promoting food sovereignty and
security, and the maintenance of the social and cultural fabric, amongst others
(Carneiro and Maluf (orgs.), 2003; Cazella et all (orgs.), 2009).
Finally, the perspective that has been presented here with regard to rural Brazil
returns - not merely by chance - to the theme of building an inter-sectoral
dialogue and hence alliances between different sectors. We have seen that the
social movement for food and nutrition sovereignty and security and for the
human right to food, in Brazil and in many parts of the world, coincides in large
measure with the social actors that are active in the rural universe. This fact can
contribute towards updating the view of the rural sector and towards building the
said links between different views and social sectors. However, one must not
underestimate the difficulties involved in implementing a dialogue between the
different sectors of society and the government, as revealed by the inter-
sectorial experience of the CONSEA, one of the spaces where many of the
questions mentioned in this text are examined.
7 Non-agricultural policies can also directly contribute towards productive activities, for example,
by using resources from pension transfers or social security to invest in or fund production
23
Final observations
More than presenting general conclusions, the observations contained in this
final topic aim to return to and underscore three important points of the
proposed approach. First, the food question was approached here in a manner
that related this issue to the development process of nations. When viewed on
this plane, food and nutrition security, habitually correlated with poverty,
becomes a strategic objective of public policies aimed at promoting equitable
and sustainable ways of producing, accessing and consuming adequate food.
In these terms, it is part of the challenge of combining economic dynamism with
increasing social equity, rarely achieved in Latin America, which requires the
integration of economic and social policies.
Second, this paper sought to emphasise that the institutional framework
matters. In the case of Brazil, the integrated approach of public policies - under
the label of inter-sectorality - resulted in the proposal for a supra-sectoral
National System for Food and Nutrition Security to articulate different
government sectors and civil society organisations with a view to generating
integrated programmes and actions. This perspective presupposes the
existence of government bodies and public spaces for social participation with
an equally inter-sectorial representation, involving government sectors and
organisations from civil society, based on the dynamics of coordination and
mechanisms for building agreements. It has been proposed that this format be
reproduced at the state and municipal levels.
Last but not least, the food question (encompassing foodstuffs and feeding)
plays a prominent role in the necessary updating of views about the rural
universe. More specifically, it provides visibility and a practical importance for
the human right to adequate food and food sovereignty - through a policy for
food and nutrition security with the focus suggested herein. This would provide
one of the extra-sectoral general references, indispensable for legitimising and
promoting the dynamics for a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable
rural transformation.
24
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