FOOD SECURITY,

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND CITIZENSHIP:the experience of the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

1993/2003

Adriana Veiga AranhaJuly / 2003

Hunger:

Problems with access to food

Poverty, Social and Economic Inequality

State:

Among the several actors – State, market,

family, and society, the State plays an

important role in the reproduction of the

model that causes hunger as well as in

finding ways to reduce it.

Food Security

It refers to a state of nutritional well-being,

assured by an integrated set of articulated

actions and policies aiming at guaranteeing

everybody’s permanent access, in quantity

and quality, to sufficiently adequate food in

order to meet each person’s nutritional needs,

in different phases and situations of life. This

should be produced in a sustainable way, not

compromising the next generations’ future.

Necessary requirements:

1 – Sufficient food availability: it presupposes an

integrated food system from production to

consumption that offers essential food for human

consumption, with accessible and stable prices,

produced in a sustainable way;

2 – Accessibility to food: it presupposes access

to income (enough to make the acquisition of

food possible), to essential public services, to

information about nutritional quality of food and

to social rights.

Therefore, to have Food Security, the country must have

sufficiency, stability, autonomy, sustainability and equity.

To what extent has the public administration

in Belo Horizonte taken over Food Security in a

responsible and responsive way and to what extent

has it contributed to “food citizenship” in the city?

1 – The commitment to Food Security presupposes,

from the government part, a set of articulated decisions

aiming at citizenship building.

2 – The increase of responsiveness in the Food Area

presupposes a reformulation of the State towards an

innovative public administration.

SOCIAL ADMINISTRATION AND FOOD CITIZENSHIP

1 - FACILITATED ACCESS

1.1 – Opening channels for direct trading of

food supplies by rural producers

1.2 – Incentive to self-supply and to agro-

ecological urban practices

1.3 – Regulation and Monitoring of food prices

2 - GUARANTEED ACCESS:

2.1 – Supply of Food for Institutions and/or

household consumption

2.2 – Subsidized food sales

3 - INFORMED ACCESS:

3.1 – Orientation and Education for Food

Consumption

3.2 – Basic Monthly Food Ration

0

0,1

0,2

0,3

0,4

0,5

0,6

0,7

0,8

0,9

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Years

In R

eais

R$

-Bra

zilia

n cu

rren

cy

(Dec

/(()

SMAB

PRIVATE

Average Price of Mix: Private Grocery Stores

(Sacolões) and SMAB Network, Belo Horizonte –

1995/1999

SOURCE: SMAB in: Aranha (2000)

51%

42%

7% Got better

Remained the same

Got w orse

Change in the Malnutrition Degree of Children Assistend at PPCD with a 6 month follow-up at Health Centers, Belo Horizonte - 1999

SOURCE:SMAB - Health Municipal Secretariat IN: ARANHA (2000)

Result Analysis in this Group of Children:Severe Malnutrition: 91% recovered weight, only 9% remained the same and there was no register of any child who got worse.Moderate Malnutrition: 72% got better, 26% remained the same and 2% got worse.Light Malnutrition: 41% got better, 53% remained the same and 6% got worse.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Years

By

1000

bor

n al

ive Brazil

Belo Horizonte

District of Taquarilin BH

Evolution of Infant Mortality Rate in Children under 1 year old: Brazil, Belo Horizonte and District of Taquaril in BH SOURCE: SMSA (Health Municipal Secretariat);IBGE(Brazilian Institute of Geography & Statistics) In: ARANHA (2000)

Belo Horizonte: decrease of 41%Brazil: decrease of 7,3%District of Taquaril in Belo Horizonte: decrease of 60,6%

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

P neumonia &BCP

IntestinalInfection

Malnutrition Septicemia CongenitalAnomaly

Others

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

Distribution of Late Infant Deaths (post-neonatal) according to Main Basic Causes, Belo Horizonte - 1993/1997

Source: SMSA( Health Municipal Secretariat IN: ARANHA (2000)

SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS ACHIEVED IN 2002

POPULATION ASSISTED:

790,703 beneficiaries (37% of the population living in the city of Belo

Horizonte)

Food Trading Projects: 73% (7.7% in producers’ direct sales and

65.3% in regulated projects).

Social Projects: 27% (25.5% in projects that supply food, and 1.5% in

projects that sell subsidized food)

Map 1 - Map of the Social Vulnerability Index and Points of Assistance of the SMAB Projects involving Regulation and Monitoring of Food Prices , Belo Horizonte - 1999

Map 2 - Map of the Social Vulnerability Index and Points of Assistance of the SMAB Projects involving Food Supply for Institutions and/or Residencial Consumption, Belo Horizonte - 1999

Map 3 - Map of the Social Vulnerability Index and Points of Assistance of the SMAB Projects involving Producers in Direct Trading of Food Supplies, Belo Horizonte - 1999

Map 4 - Map of the Social Vulnerability Index and Points of Assistance of the SMAB Projects involving Subsidized Food Sales, Belo Horizonte - 1999

Map 5 - Map of the Social Vulnerability Index and Points of Assistance of the SMAB Projects involving Incentive to Self-Supply and to Agroecological Urban Practices, Belo Horizonte - 1999

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Rice Beans Vegetable Fruits Meat Chicken Milk

RMBH 1987/88

RMBH 1995/96

Brazil 1987/88

Brazil 1995/96

Annual Per Capita Food Consumption: Brazil & Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte (RMBH), 1987/1988 - 1995/1996

SOURCE: IBGE/POF -1987/88, IBGE/POF - 1995/96 and IBGEAnnual Statistics( Brazilian Institute of Geography & Statistics) IN: ARANHA (2000)

Partnerships

1 – Intragovernmental

2 – Intergovernmental

3 – Non-governmental Organizations

4 – Social Movements

5 – Private Sector

A new concept in citizenship and public administration in

the area of food

Rights and Citizenship:

Equity and Inversion of public priorities

Focusing and Universalizing

Innovative Public Administration

Integrated Administration

Partnerships

Popular Participation

Publicizing: Deprivatizing administrative processes

Administrative Transparency

Rendering of accounts, Accountability

Efficiency and Flexibility – Changing limits of public

bureaucracy in creative and efficient processes

Decentralization – Social and Economic Development/

Although the food issue involves a broad

system, in which the majority of the chain

productive processes take regional,

national and even supranational spaces,

local policies in the food security area can

be an important instrument for the

construction of citizenship.

Factors the have contributed positively in the

process of political implementation:

1 – The government prioritized Food Policy

2- Food Security is one of the program priorities of the PT –

Workers’ Party, which was ahead of the government

3 – The implementation period occurs in a time of broad

social mobilization against hunger and misery

4 – The Mayor participated, actively, in the implementation

of the Food Security Program as a leadership engaged to

the theme.

5 – The policy was implemented by a technical team

specialized in the area