Karine Santos is Coordinator for Brazil’s National School Feeding Programme (FNDE/MEC): “Brazil’s National School Feeding Programme marked last year its 60th anniversary. In the context of this programme, we have long time ago established a partnership with FAO. Dr. Graziano [FAO Director-General] represents this partnership. We have two specific projects in South-South Cooperation. One is the Latin America and the Caribbean project, and the other one is FAO Africa project. Through both projects we take our model of School Feeding to other countries, as well as we adapt it to the context of the beneficiary for the sake of the country to develop its own school feeding model. 

This is related to our strong commitment with family farming, which has been developed alongside FAO. Family Farming is one of the government priorities. We have a law which ensures that at least 30% of the Budget for School Feeding is allocated to buy food from local producers. That makes a difference, particularly when you want to implement school feeding programmes in other countries. You bring a fresh, more nutritive product to the schools, while favouring local development. That’s the case in El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, where we have a strong partnerships and we have had some meetings and done some monitoring.

The National School Feeding Programme is based on food and nutrition security. Since 2014 Brazil is no longer part of the world hunger map. Ever since, the programme went from offering basic assistance to fight hunger, to have specific guidelines: healthy food offer, nutrition and food training, that also make part of the food and nutrition security.”