World Food Day, observed annually on October 16, this year draws attention to progress that remains to be made towards feeding the 850 million undernourished people worldwide. That statistic shouldn't just tug on conscience, but should enflame our sense of human justice, says the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.
The right to food was on the list of essential human rights in the first international human rights agreement, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, commitments by nations to support this right have been slow to come. One nation that has made significant progress is Brazil, held up by FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf as an example of success.
Initiating Brazil's Zero Hunger program in January 2003 was one of newly-elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's first actions in office. The program aimed to reduce Brazil's gap between rich and poor, the widest in Latin America and one of the widest in the world, and to ensure a steady food supply for the estimated 46 million Brazilians living in "food insecurity" in 2001. For these families, according to the Embassy of Brazil, food insecurity means "they did not regularly have access to enough food to meet their basic needs and sustain active, healthy lives." With the support of FAO and other governmental and private groups, the initiative has expanded into a New Deal sort of array of more than 60 programs, targeted at clean water, electricity supply, education, agrarian reform, literacy, and job training, among others.
In September 2006, weeks before his run for reelection, President Lula announced that Zero Hunger had achieved its goal of reaching 11 million families. Battling poverty was the banner issue of his campaign for the October presidential elections, the results of which would indicate his success over the last three years in the eyes of his constituents. In October 2006, Lula was reelected with more than 60 percent of the vote, widely seen as a validation of Brazil's ambitious social programs.
On this World Food Day, the rest of the world would do well to take note. Brazil's reformation of social policy has bettered the lives of millions of its citizens, and its initiatives chart a path for other countries to do the same, moving toward a world where the right to food is recognized both in word and deed.
RELATED LINKS
World Food Day siteZero Hunger: a Food Security Policy for Brazil
EarthTrends
Food and Agriculture Overview 2005
