Brasília, Brazil, May 29, 2023 - The Minister of Education of Brazil, Camilo Santana, attended the opening of the 2nd International Congress on School Feeding, which brought together approximately 350 nutrition and education professionals from Brazil and representatives from 12 countries in Latin America to discuss the importance of food and nutrition education in the implementation of school feeding programmes.

According to the minister, Brazil's school feeding programme is a source of great pride for the country. Santana emphasized the importance of strengthening the network that the Brazilian government promotes with LAC countries to "learn about the experiences developed in these nations regarding school feeding." The mentioned international network is the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES), created in 2018 by the federal government with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The international delegation was composed of representatives from Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.

The 2nd Congress was organized by the National Fund for Educational Development of the Ministry of Education (FNDE/MEC), together with the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE) and FAO, under the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme.

The president of FNDE, Fernanda Pacobahyba, stated that school feeding makes a big difference in the lives of students, sometimes being their only meal of the day. "Only with balanced and appropriate meals will our students have the necessary nutrients for effective biopsychosocial development," said the president, adding: "health and education go hand in hand."

The Deputy Director of ABC, Ambassador Luiza Lopes da Silva, highlighted the component of public purchases from family farming in the school feeding programme as an action "that completely changed the scenario of small-scale agriculture." She also mentioned the importance of Brazil's school feeding programme, whose experience and good practices have been shared with other countries. She congratulated the participation of the delegation with representatives from 12 countries in the region present at the congress, including the three new members of the RAES: Chile, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. This network aims to provide technical assistance to countries in the implementation and reformulation of their school feeding programmes, based on the principle of the human right to adequate food.

The Assistant Representative of the FAO Office in Brazil, Lilian Romera, stated that school feeding is an increasingly prominent topic on the political agendas of governments in the region, as a permanent state policy and crucial for ensuring students' right to adequate and healthy food. "Today, five countries, in addition to Brazil, have already approved their school feeding laws." Romera highlighted the 14-year partnership between the Brazilian government, through ABC and FNDE, and FAO on the topic of school feeding, mentioning the technical support provided to LAC countries in strengthening and consolidating school feeding programmes. "We are committed to working in collaboration with governments of other countries."

Representing the countries that are part of RAES, Adriana Mayorga, an analyst from the Ministry of Education of Ecuador, stated that this network, which involves the participation of 21 countries, has created a space for technical support and positive international cooperation among nations. "We are already planning a training activity for teachers in our country on the topic of food and nutrition education. We want our schools to be spaces for the promotion of healthy habits with the support of Brazil-FAO Cooperation," said Mayorga regarding the actions that Ecuador will undertake. The country's school feeding programme serves 9.8 million students.

International initiatives

In addition to successful cases in Brazil, a panel was presented on the challenges of school feeding in LAC. Cecília Malaguti, responsible for South-South cooperation with international organizations at ABC, provided an overview of the cooperation initiated by the Brazilian government, under the coordination of the Agency, together with FAO, in 2008, on the topic of school feeding. She highlighted among the most recent initiatives the creation of RAES Network, nearly 5 years ago, which develops actions to strengthen school feeding policies in the region, with the participation of countries based on their interests. She also confirmed continued support to countries through joint work with FNDE and FAO.

In her intervention, Najla Veloso, coordinator of school feeding in the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme, also emphasized the importance of the technical support provided by FNDE over the years as "a 67-year experience substantial in this joint cooperation initiative in school feeding". 

Israel Rios, the nutrition officer of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, presented the topic of food and nutrition education (FNE) actions to combat obesity, warning that "LAC lead the global averages for excess weight, so FNE actions can make all the difference." According to Rios, the region has the highest cost for a healthy diet, but the school feeding programme has great potential to reduce this cost. "It is the ideal space to promote healthy lifestyles in children."

Successful experiences in food and nutrition education from two countries, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, were also presented. Representing the government and the FAO Representation in El Salvador, respectively, Oralia Robles and Reina Osorio presented the strategy for healthy and sustainable school feeding developed by the country, highlighting the training course for teachers, which strengthened the knowledge of food education for over 5,000 teachers approved in the three editions of the course throughout the country.

From the Dominican Republic, Ana Carolina Baez and Mariela Ortega, representing the government and the FAO office in the country, respectively, presented the initiative developed in food and nutrition education linked to the Dominican school feeding programme, benefiting 1.8 million students with adequate and healthy food. The presented actions included appropriate menus, waste reduction, and promotion of better eating habits.