BRAZIL CAN WIN THE WAR AGAINST HUNGER

By Jacques Diouf and - - Reprint | | Print |

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SAO PAULO, Feb 1 2003 (IPS) - Brazil has set itself the goal of eliminating hunger within four years and, in President Lula\’s first week in office, decided to postpone the 700-plus million-dollar purchase of jet fighters to help pay for it, writes Jacques Diouf, director-general of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). In this article for IPS, Diouf writes that Brazil\’s greatest enemies are the poverty and hunger within its borders, not military threats from its neighbours. It is in everyone\’s interest, rich and poor, to eliminate hunger. In the view of the FAO, hunger is as much a cause as an effect of poverty. As long as large numbers of the population are hungry — and thus unable to study or work properly and likely to die young — it is fanciful to assume that it will reach its full potential for economic growth. Getting rid of hunger is not simply a moral obligation but also an investment that is bound to generate very high returns on the relatively modest sums involved. In the global war against hunger, everyone will be a winner. Brazil is now showing the world that if you are really determined to eliminate hunger, it is both possible and not excessively costly.

Brazil, under the presidency of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has got its priorities right. It has set itself the goal of eliminating hunger within four years and, in President Lula’s first week in office, decided to postpone the purchase of jet fighters (700-plus million dollar) to help pay for it.Brazil’s greatest enemies are the poverty and hunger within its borders, not military threats from its neighbours.

Brazil is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The top 20 percent of the population earn 60 percent of the country’s income, while the bottom 20 percent survive on less than 4 percent. In 1999, 44 million Brazilians –more than a quarter of the population– were living in absolute poverty, with a daily income of just over a dollar a day, and recent figures suggest that this number is now over 50 million.

In spite of the fact that Brazil is a major exporter of agricultural products, such as coffee, sugar, and soy beans, a significant portion its population are chronically hungry and malnourished. A large number of the absolute poor spend almost all their earnings on food and still do not have enough to eat, especially if they have debts.

Some economists question whether Brazil can afford to get rid of hunger, pointing to the enormous fiscal difficulties facing the new government. But in electing Lula by such an overwhelming majority, the people of Brazil showed that they share his priorities and are prepared to make the required sacrifices.

In fact, there probably won’t be any need for sacrifices, because it is in everyone’s interest, rich and poor alike, to eliminate hunger. In the view of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), hunger is as much a cause as an effect of poverty. As long as large numbers of the population are hungry –and thus unable to study or work properly and likely to die young– it is fanciful to assume that it will reach its full potential for economic growth. Eliminating hunger is not simply a moral obligation but also an investment that is bound to generate very high returns on the relatively modest sums involved. In the global war against hunger, everyone will be a winner.

In launching its Zero Hunger Project, Brazil has established itself as the leading nation in this war, which was declared at the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996. Though it has got off to a slow start, many other countries may be inspired by Brazil’s example and join forces in the International Alliance Against Hunger, launched at the June 2002 Summit in Rome.

The Zero Hunger Project was built on very sound conceptual foundations. It recognises that low income is the main cause of chronic hunger and therefore provides an income supplement through a debit card system. To stay in the programme, beneficiaries have to show that funds have been spent on basic food items and cooking fuel, and — if they are not indigent — provide proof that their children are in school and that adults have enrolled in a training programme which will improve their employability or livelihood and thus reduce their dependence on future help.

Another innovative feature of the project is that it aims to use the extra demand for food which it creates to stimulate more production by small farmers, among whom there is a high incidence of poverty and hunger. This helps both poor consumers and producers.

International support for the Zero Hunger Project is already strong. Well before the new government took office, a joint team from FAO, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank strongly endorsed the goals and underlying concepts of the project Hans Kohler, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, also lent his support during a visit to Brazil last December.

At the invitation of the President, I visited Brazil in the second week of February to hold first-hand consultations with the new government as to how FAO and the international community can best work together to help Brazil achieve its goal of eradicating hunger within 4 years. But I shall also be anxious to see what the rest of the world can learn from Brazil’s lead and explore how the Brazilian vision can be applied elsewhere.

In a world in which farmers have managed to more than meet the food needs of a global population which has doubled from three to six billion in the last 40 years, it is absurd that anyone should go hungry, yet about 800 million people still do. Brazil is showing the world that if you are really determined to eliminate hunger, it is both possible and not excessively costly. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)