Brasília, Brazil – May 29, 2025 – During the workshop on the social power of school feeding through sustainable food procurement, held on Tuesday, May 28, at the 5th One Planet Global Conference of the Sustainable Food Systems Network, the role of school feeding programmes in transforming agrifood systems was underscored. The 5th Global Conference took place in Brasília, Brazil, from May 27 to 29.

The event brought together experts, government representatives, private sector stakeholders, civil society organizations, and academia to discuss solutions for reshaping agrifood systems. The initiative was organized by the Sustainable Food Systems Programme — a multisectoral partnership aimed at accelerating the shift toward sustainable patterns of food production and consumption — and Brazil’s Ministry of Social Development, Family and Hunger Alleviation (MDS).

The  Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) was represented by Najla Veloso, Executive Secretary of the Network and Senior Officer at FAO. In her remarks, Veloso emphasized the need to establish and structure regulatory frameworks that enable public procurement operations — both for the institutions doing the purchasing and for cooperatives, associations, and producers supplying the food. 

The RAES Network is a South-South cooperation initiative jointly implemented by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC/MRE) and the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE/MEC), with the executive secretariat of FAO. 

She cited the successful case of Brazil, where the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE) operates collaboratively between states, municipalities, and the federal government, with decentralized management. “Many countries have already acknowledged the importance of public procurement, but they don’t always have the legal or organizational structures necessary to implement it effectively. It is hard to move forward without clear guidance and oversight for the actors involved,” she said. 

Veloso added: “We need mechanisms that help family farming organizations access public procurement markets. Moreover, we must understand that this policy is strategic for achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Veloso stressed that school feeding is a strategic policy to ensure the human right to adequate and healthy food for all students — regardless of social class, ethnicity, race, gender, or age. “It is essential to address indicators of malnutrition”, she said. Veloso concluded by stating that direct procurement from family farmers is an essential condition for advancing toward sustainable school feeding programs.

Also representing Brazil at the workshop was Renata Mainenti, Coordinator for Social Oversight Support at the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE/MEC). She shared the experience of the PNAE, which provides daily and universal meals to 41 million students. She also highlighted that Brazil has a School Feeding Law that mandates at least 30% of food purchases for schools must come from family farming. In 2022, public procurement from family farmers reached an average of 45%.

Mainenti emphasized the importance of reducing climate change impacts by promoting short food supply chains and encouraging organic and agroecological practices as a “priority.” “Therefore, school feeding can promote local territorial development and have impacts across multiple sectors — education, health, nutrition, and production,” she said.

She concluded by highlighting Brazil’s cooperation efforts through alliances with the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), as well as the establishment of regional platforms such as the Sustainable School Feeding Network. “I want to stress the importance of these networks, where school feeding is not only a way to ensure food for students, but also a driving force for the transformation of agrifood systems,” she affirmed.