In 2014, Brazil left the United Nations (UN) Hunger Map. That year, 4.5 million Brazilians had nothing to eat, a figure that corresponds to 2.5% of the population. The index was considered low, according to the methodology used.

But despite this being a milestone in promoting the right to food, there was a change in reality and, in 2020, it reached the mark of 20 million hungry Brazilians. In 2021, the report “The State of Food and Nutrition Security in the World 2021”, prepared by the UN, points out that almost 50 million of the 213 million Brazilians stopped eating due to lack of money or had a significant reduction in the quality and quantity of food ingested.

Check out the causes for this situation and the role of the third sector to contribute to the solution.

Social inequality and hunger in Brazil

 Hunger in Brazil is a historical problem. According to an article by researchers from the Federal University of Pernambuco, the origins go back to the colonial period.

The initial food, brought by the first Portuguese settlers, contained fruits and vegetables. But it did not reach the poorest population, as they were forced to abandon subsistence polyculture for monoculture.

For enslaved blacks, the situation was even more serious: all their food was controlled by the masters. Generally, they were destined for food scraps or discards.

Between 1500 and 1822, the main causes of hunger in Brazil were linked to the colonial structure and the deficiencies of the agrarian system. In addition, State impositions and climate fluctuations also made access to food difficult.

After the country became independent, it took more than 100 years for the concern to create “hunger maps” to arise. It was only in 1940 that the first count of people who went hungry in Brazil appeared.

From this point, it was possible to create strategies to minimize the number of Brazilians in food insecurity. In addition to the distribution of food, professionalization and income redistribution programs are some of the strategies that helped to minimize the situation and lead to the departure of the Map in 2014.

But in recent years, Brazil has faced rising inflation and an economic crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic. As a result, household incomes declined, along with their purchasing power.

To give you an idea, food prices rose by 14% in 2020. Which led almost 20 million Brazilians to have nothing to eat.

Third Sector Participation

Hunger and food insecurity have individual and social consequences, ranging from effects on health and well-being to impacts on productivity, work and school performance.

For example, hungry children are developmentally impaired, with learning difficulties and health problems. But these impacts are not only individual, but also harm society as a whole, such as the loss of human potential and greater spending on education and health.

Therefore, zero hunger and sustainable agriculture are UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and access to quality food is one of the fundamental rights established in the Brazilian Constitution.

But, to solve hunger in Brazil, the work of governments is not enough. Companies and civil society also have a fundamental role.

Companies can not only donate food, but also reduce waste, create internal food policies, invest in projects to combat malnutrition and support NGOs working in this field.

Meanwhile, the Third Sector works in the distribution of meals and food baskets, in professional training and in the mobilization.

This is because NGOs act as catalysts for attention to the media and governments, raising funds to improve the quality of life in the community. That is, when an organization acts in favor of a cause, there is greater engagement on the part of civil society, companies and institutions.

The work of the Ramacrisna Institute

Ramacrisna is one of those institutions that help fight hunger in Brazil. For this, it has short and medium term strategies.

In the short term, there are donations of basic food baskets, daily lunches and snacks for children and young people served by the projects, residents of Betim and 11 other cities in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte. Part of this food comes from weekly donations from Mesa Brasil Institute at SESC. In addition to completing the production of meals, we also help the families of our students, with the preparation of kits for them to take home.

In the medium term, programs such as Adolescent Apprentice allow socially vulnerable young people to enter the job market and contribute to the family’s income, and professional training courses offer new job opportunities and better income for students, with increased quality of life.

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