Notícias
South-South Cooperation in School Feeding Is Highlighted at the 2nd Global Summit of the School Meals Coalition.
- 2nd Global Summit of the School Meals Coalition, held in Fortaleza on September 18-19
Strategic Partnerships
Brazilian cooperation in school feeding operates through two main partnerships: with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2009, and with the World Food Programme (WFP) through the Center of Excellence Against Hunger in Brasília, since 2011, with a priority focus on Africa and Asia.
Brazil’s experience with the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), under FNDE, has become a global reference, serving more than 50 million meals daily to 40 million students in 144 thousand schools. South-South cooperation shares this experience, promoting the connection between school feeding and family farming as a strategy for health and sustainable development.
Results
The Brazil-FAO partnership has already fostered significant progress in the region, including:
- The creation of the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) in 2018, bringing together 18 member countries.
- Technical support for legal frameworks for school feeding in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Paraguay.
- The development of the “Sustainable Schools” methodology, inspired by the Brazilian experience, which integrates six key components: adequate menus; nutrition education; infrastructure improvement; intersectoral coordination; public procurement from family farms; and social participation.
Through the partnership with WFP, via the Center of Excellence Against Hunger, Brazil has contributed to:
- The adoption of Decision 589/2016 by the African Union, recognizing school feeding programs linked to family farming as effective instruments for generating income and reducing school dropout.
- Establishing March 1 as the African School Feeding Day.
- Legislative and institutional progress in countries such as Togo, Kenya, Malawi, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
- The development of the “Virtual Visit: Brazil” initiative during the pandemic, which has been maintained to this day as an effective alternative for knowledge exchange.
Innovation and Sustainability
Brazilian Law No. 11,947/2009 introduced innovations that have garnered global interest, including the requirement to allocate 30% of federal resources to purchasing products from family farming, thereby creating a stable source of income for more than 40,000 family farms in the country.
In this sense, school feeding connected to family farming represents an integrated solution that combats hunger, promotes quality education, and strengthens local economies, with an approach that directly contributes to Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, and 4.
2030 Agenda
As Co-leader of the School Meals Coalition alongside France and Finland, Brazil reaffirms its commitment to ensuring every child receives healthy and nutritious food in the school environment by 2030. School feeding is also part of the Policy Basket of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, created in 2024 under Brazil’s presidency of the G20.
2nd Summit
Hosting the 2nd Global Summit in Fortaleza represents a national and global milestone for school feeding, reaffirming Brazil’s leading role in promoting the human right to adequate food and in building a world without hunger.
The Coalition gathers more than 110 countries and regional bodies, as well as 140 partners among international organizations, development banks, philanthropic institutions, academia, and civil society. It aims to mobilize political commitment and practical solutions to expand the global scale of school feeding programmes.
ABC
The Brazilian Cooperation Agency coordinates Brazilian technical and humanitarian cooperation, executing projects in more than 100 developing countries, with school feeding as a priority theme in South-South and trilateral cooperation.