What Brazil Needs Most Is Wealth Transfer

Among the experiences presented in BrasÀ­lia at the 32nd Session of the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition, the Brazilian case study was classified as “the most advanced” in the struggle against hunger and poverty.

According to the Committee’s executive secretary, Roger Shrimpton, Brazil’s situation is the most “favorable” among the four countries that were analyzed – Angola, Bolivia, Brazil, and Mozambique.


“The indices of malnutrition among children are low in comparison with Angola and Mozambique, for example. Brazil produces enough food to meet the demand for a healthy diet. The issue, it seems, is to find solutions that guarantee needy communities access to income and, consequently, high quality food,” he observes.


In Shrimpton’s opinion, when it comes to strategies to combat poverty and hunger, one may infer that a country advances when it adopts income-transfer measures.


According to the Brazilian study, “a large-scale income-transfer policy represents the most immediate alternative for dealing with the problem in Brazil.”


According to the technical director of the Brazilian Campaign for Nutrition and Human Rights (Abrandh), Flávio Valente, the Family Grant program constitutes progress in this sense.


“Research indicates that 70% of the money these families receive from the programs is spent on food, generally on better quality food than they had before,” he affirms.


In Valente’s view, the exchange of experiences has contributed greatly to advances in the four countries that were analyzed. According to him, “when one begins to expose the difficulties and the advances, alternative routes appear.”


Shrimpton believes that the Zero Hunger program is a “very well developed” concept but needs complementation for the Brazilian program to have a bigger impact.


“There is a need that goes beyond providing food to the poor. Income distribution in Brazil is very unequal, so the Brazilian government’s effort to correct this situation through direct income transfers is admirable.


“What must be done is to combine it with other measures that will protect, in addition to those who are economically vulnerable, those who are biologically vulnerable, such as pregnant women,” he points out.


According to Shrimpton, since the Brazilian government is assuming the position of world leader in nutritional solutions, it would be “very important for other countries to receive Brazil’s help.”


“Brazil is becoming part of a more advanced society, in which income-transfer policies are normal government practices. Moreover, Brazil has the benefit of a very rich history of food and nutrition programs. The country’s current institutional situation is also favorable, something that the other countries lack.


“Therefore, I believe that Brazil can develop a supporting role for the other three countries, especially Angola and Mozambique.” he points out.


Translation: David Silberstein
Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Judiciary Pointed as Main Obstacle to Agrarian Reform in Brazil

Brazil’s federal government and Brazilian social organizations initiated debates today on the proposals the ...

Brazilian Shoe Stylist Does Work for Bebe and Guess

The designer of feminine shoes Meline Moumdjian, owner of the brand of luxury shoes ...

90 Slaves, Including Kids, Are Freed in Brazil

Slaves Two teams from the Special Mobile Inspection Group of the Ministry of Labor ...

For a True Connoisseur Vodka in Brazilian Caipirinha Is Blasphemy

While living in Brazil, I remember ordering caipirinhas, the famous national cocktail made with ...

17.5% or 2 Million Out of Work in the Greater Sí£o Paulo, Brazil

The unemployment rate in the Greater São Paulo, in southern Brazil, was steady at ...

Brazil Makes Close to 250,000 Vehicles in May. A Record.

Vehicle production in Brazil attained 245,179 units in May, an all-time record. The total ...

Brazil Teaches Post-War Lebanon Secrets of Fruit Growing and Cattle Raising

Last week, three technicians of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) who were in ...

Brazil Cuts 5% of Ethanol Added to Gasoline

The Brazilian federal government announced that the percentage of alcohol mixed with gasoline sold ...

Two-Month Strike in Brazil Harms Blood Banks and Medicine Imports

The directorate of Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) sent a proposal yesterday, April ...

Brazil’ Bebel Gilberto: A Command Performance

Last August Bebel Gilberto was supposed to have débuted her new tour in New ...