RAES Sustainable School Freeding Network Latin America and the Caribbean

1. OVERVIEW OF MALNUTRITION IN THE WORLD

According to the report "The State of FoodInsecurity and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) 2021[1]", built through the efforts of several United Nations agencies, indicate that in 2020, between 720 and 811 million people went hungry, which means 9.9% of the world's population and 161 million more than in 2019. Approximately 12% of the global population, 928 million people, were in severe food and nutritional insecurity, 148 million more than in 2019. The number suggests that a major effort will be needed by countries  to honor their promise to end hunger by 2030[2]. In many parts of the world, the pandemic has hampered access to food. The report points out that more   than 2.3 billion people (or 30% of the global population) did not have access to  adequate food during 2020, which are 113 million  in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The sharpest increases in moderate or severe food insecurity in  2020 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean and Africa. In the total number of undernourished people in the world, 8% (60 million) are in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region where there has been an increase of 14 million more people starving.  By 2020, 9.1% of people in the region starved.

The various forms of malnutrition continue to be a great challenge. The prevalence of adult obesity follows from 11.7% in 2012 to 13.1% in 2016 globally. Regarding the global child population, 149.2 (22%) children under 5 years old had chronic malnutrition, 45.4 (6.7%) million had acute malnutrition (low weight for height) and 38.9 million (5.7%) were overweight in 2020.

This panorama also indicates that food and nutrition security in the world is an extremely complex challenge that requires a holistic approach to all forms of malnutrition, productivity, income of small food producers and food production systems, with the sustainable use of biodiversity and genetic resources.

With the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the projected reality is very challenging,as is the forecast for 2030. Experts say an extraordinary response is needed by governments, the private sector, civil society, multilateral organisations and all sectors to take large-scale measures to combat growing hunger, food insecurity, poverty and malnutrition.

2. SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMMES

Food is a theme that has increasingly been considered a leading role for the adequate development of all children, adolescents and young people, especially those in situations of social vulnerability. It is agreed that school feeding programmes constitute an environmental network, in addition  to contributing to the achievement of safety to be achieved, improving the nutritional quality of students and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Within the dialogues and advances in this theme, the school feeding programs  have been considered cross-cutting programs,  given  their ability to interact with other policies and scopes in areas suchas education, health, agriculture,  social and environmental development. They are programs that offer wide range of benefits, including i) the better potential of nutrition and health of millions of children, adolescents and young people; ii) the reduction of absenteeism, especially among children from poor families, and iii)  the guarantee of better conditions of cognitive development. In addition to these, two other major benefits are:  the provision of food and nutrition education, as an opportunity to develop a basis of healthy eating habits and the provision of a guaranteed market for farmers and family  farmers as suppliers of healthy and varied locally grown foods.

2.1 THE BRAZILIAN SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM - PNAE AS A GLOBAL REFERENCE

Among the various policies that the Brazilian government has adopted to address such social indicators is the national level of school feeding, developed within the framework of the National School Feeding Program of Brazil  (PNAE, its acronym in Portuguese), managed by the National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE) of the  Ministry of Education (MEC),  whose legal framework highlights the supply of food at school as a guarantee of the Human Right to Adequate Food.

The Brazilian experience of developing the PNAE,  especially since the enactment of Law 11,947/2009, has been recognized, especially by developing countries, as a reference of a sustainable program, quality and, for its advances and challenges, capable of providing necessary support for Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.  

The implementation of the Program, for more than sixty-five years,  has been highlighted in several aspects, especially in the coverage of care, in the continuity and quality of the offer, in the standardization of the program, in the nutritional recommendations,  in the participation of social actors in social control, in the construction of  face-to-face and virtual systems of accompanying, monitoring and evaluation, decentralized management, food and nutrition education mechanisms and tools, through various methodologies. The Law  11.947/2009,  has been a reference to the institutionalization of SF programs in the region.  Art. 14,  in particular, of that Law, is considered an innovation in the global framework, which determines the transfer of at least  30% of the resources  to be used for the acquisition of food stuffs directly from family farming and the rural family entrepreneur or their organizations. This has motivated several countries to restructure to ensure this strategy. 

The implementation of a program with this complexity and its reach of about 41 million students per day has   highlighted  the paradigm of food at school worldwide as part of the human right to adequate food and has called into question the processes of food assistance to vulnerable people still present in many countries. In fact, these innovations are not legitimized  by the Brazilian (State) to promote the debate on the subject and launch itself as an experienced interlocutor in the field of international technical cooperation.

Thus, the government of Brazil and FAO have been consecrating with the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region the understanding that malnutrition, in all its forms – including malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity – not only affects people's health and well-being, but also generates devastating social and economic consequences for families,  communities and states.

Since 2009, many actions have been developed under the Brazil-FAO Cooperation Project "Consolidation of School Feeding Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean" in order to strengthen,   consolidate and institutionalize such programs, based on activities scheduled and carried out jointly to develop the potential of technicians and managers,   as well as promoting the exchange of experiences and encouraging the enactment of legal frameworks for SF programs.

3. INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL COOPERATION

Brazilian international technical cooperation, based on the principles of collaboration, horizontality and respect for the sovereignty of countries, is an important instrument to support developing countries in promoting structural changes in their productive and organizational systems, as a way to overcome their challenges and stimulate growth. The basic idea is the socialization of knowledge, of successful experiences, contributing to the training of human resources, to the strengthening of the institutions of the cooperative countries and their policies.

In Brazil, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) of  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) is the Coordinator of the International Technical Cooperation System.

In the area of school feeding, the FNDE/MEC  and ABC/MRE have had important partners, who promote and enable the sharing of  national  experiences and contribute to strengthen the search for sustainability in various regions, especially in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia.

For the region of  Latin America and the Caribbean, since 2009, the government of Brazil has been developing  actions,  jointly with FAO,  which culminated, in 2018, in the project currently entitled Consolidationof School Feeding Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean. This project has  counted  on the important credibility and capillarity of FAO in the increment of intensive strategies to strengthen school feeding programs  in 13 countries. Moreover, the project has fostered and consolidated intersectoral working groups in each country that have favored the dialogue between countries and contributed to the joining of forces in favor of strengthening the School Feeding (SF) policy in this region.

4. SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL FEEDING NETWORK - RAES

4.1. Background

Especially since 1992, the  year of the I International Conference on Nutrition in Rome, organized by FAO and WHO, countries have identified and sought globally stratégias and actions to improve nutritional status and food consumption. So, they adopted the World Action Plan for Nutrition. One of the central points of this document is the promotion of diets and healthy ways of life. Regarding to this, the countries were encouraged to promote guidelines for the populations, considering, even, the different lifestyles and age group of their people. In response to this global commitment, movements have been created around the development of food guides as a way to trigger action to eradicate hunger and malnutrition worldwide.

Then, in November 2014, also in Rome, theII International Nutrition Conference(ICN2) washeld. With the participation of more than 2200 high-level representatives from 170 governments in addition to civil society and the business community; - focused its attention on fighting malnutrition in all its forms. The Rome Declaration on Nutrition was approved at the event ( Rome Declaration on Nutrition)and the Framework for Action (Framework for Action) which record the commitments of world leaders to establish national policies aimed at eradicating hunger, malnutrition, and transforming food systems in favor of nutritious diets and access to food healthy for everyone.

Still looking to set goals and actions, in 2015 the Sustainable Development Goals were defined by the United Nations (UN) as an action plan for people, the planet and prosperity.

This is an agenda of action until 2030, with 17 objectives and 169 goals built on the advances and challenges marked by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In this alignment, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed on April 1, 2016 the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition, from 2016 to 2025. The resolution aimed to trigger intensified action to end hunger and eradicate malnutrition worldwide, and to ensure universal access to healthier and more sustainable diets for all people, whoever they are and wherever they live.

In the framework of these global actions, the government of Brazil, from the Interministerial Chamber for Food and Nutrition Security (CAISAN), defined some strategies for the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) by selecting a publication published and coordinated by the then Ministry of Social Development (MDS), mainly based on the 38 commitments made during the 44th Session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS),  of United Nations in Rome (Italy). The mentioned Plan was agreed with 20 ministries and secretariats, brings a set of 121 goals and 99 actions structured from the great challenges aimed at the eating habits of the Brazilian population, based on the pillars of the Second International Nutrition Conference. This plan, consisting of nine challenges, promotes actionst hat aim to prevent the growth of obesity and  malnutrition in the country.

In this sense, in 2016, one of the Brazilian government actions planned was the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES), among other networks, to be implemented by FNDE and ABC, with the support of FAO. This Network consolidates the Brazilian government's commitment to improving the quality of school feeding and promoting a healthier and more sustainable food system for the various countries in the Region.

So, considering:

a)       The conception and governance of the government of Brazil on the theme of school feeding;

b)      The commitments made internationally in support of  developing country regions;

c)       The experience of international technical cooperation accumulated by the Project Consolidation of School Feeding Programs in Latin America and the Caribbean

From 2018 onto a series of actions developed  and  setup a continuous networkof dialogue between managers and country technicians on the subject of school feeding. Thus, several events and activities were carried out with this group of  managers that  were assigned to the RAES. These  activities generated, in addition to conceptual advances, the trust between countries to dialogue. 

From a methodological point of view, the SAR has provided the participating countries with:

(a) development of technical capacities;

b) Exchange  ofexperiences; 

c) Dialógos on the challenges imposed by the pandemic,and

d) Support to countries in the return of post-pandemic schools.

At its launchin  2018,  the RAES had the participation of 17 countries  (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Granada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela, São Vicente and the Grenadines), as well as representatives of FAO, WFP, UNESCO and observer countries (Germany and Spain).

Currently, the RAES develops  activities that  can account  for the participationof the 33 countries of the Region.

From its pillars of action, it developed the following activities:

 

4.2. RAES performance history: schedule of activities carried out between 2018 and 2021

YEAR	ACTIVITY	COUNTRIES	RESULTS
2018	Launch of RAES - SAA, Argentina	ARG, BOL, BRA, CHL, CRI, SLV, GRD, GTM HTI, HND, JAM, PAN, PRY, DOM, VCT URY, VEN (17)	Disclosure and approval of the Concept Note to countries Follow-up managements for The RAES Commitment of participants Event Summary Report
2019	I Regional Forum of the Sustainable School Feeding Network – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	BRB, BLZ, BOL, BRA, CHL, COL, ECU, SLV, GRD, GTM, GUY, HND, JAM, PER, DOM, SVG, TTO (17)	Delivery of the letter of intent to the signatory countries of the Milan Pact strengthening commitments with SF and guiding this policy on the agenda of the event.
	Achievement of the capacity Training	BRB, ELS, GRD, GUY, HND, JAM, PER, DOM,  SLV, VCT, SUR, TTO (12)	Certificação de 200 profissionais
	Two technical visits  to Brazil	CHL, ECU, ELS, GUA, PRY, PAN (6)	Field visits and training of 31 government managers
2020	I Dialogue with the countries	ARG, BRB, BLZ, BOL, BRA, CHL, COL, CRI, ECU, SLV, GTM, HND, JAM, NIC, MEX, PAN, PRY, PER, DOM, VCT (20)	Strengthening dialogues and exchanges to present strategies used in times of emergency
	Regional Symposium
	Intercâmbio between countries	CHL, ECU, SLV, GUA, PRY, PAN (6)	Dialogues between countries to exchange experiences
	Healthy Life Course (1st edition)	COL, GTM, PER (3)	Participation of 1,848 professionals
	Joint Strategy for Strengthening School Feeding Programs at LAC: Safe Environment During and Post-Pandemic	BLZ, SVL, GRD, GUA,GUY, HND, PER, PRY, DOM, LCA, VCT (11)	Distribution of 600 hygiene and conservation kits to 11 SF countries
2021	Pilot Implentation in ELS	SLV	In progress
	Webinar on Food Waste	ARG, BRB, BLZ, BOL, BRA, CHL, COL, CRI, SVL, GTM, HND, NIC, MEX, PAN, PRY, PER, DOM, SCA, VCT (19)	Dialogue on the theme of Food waste in the school environment
	Course " Healthy Life "  (2nd edition)	COL, GTM, ECU, PRY, PEP, DOM (6)	Participation of  3014  professionals