Lula's Government Reduces Hunger and Food Insecurity in Brazil

According to a recent poll published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which says that the number of people facing severe food and nutritional insecurity in Brazil fell from 33.1 million in 2022 to 8.7 million in 2023, from 15.5% of the population to 4.1%-.

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The Brazilian president Lula Da Silva at the beginning of his third mandate promised to combat all forms of inequality in that Latin American country, mostly the hungry and food insecurity. When president Da Silva took the power in 2023, after the ultra right-wing Jair Bolsonaro's government, the country was included in the UN hunger and food insecurity map.

IBGE highlighted that the food insecurity is most frequent and serious in the north and north-east of the country. The states of Amazonas, Pará, and Amapá are the most affected by insecurity in the north, while in the northeast it is Maranhão and Pernambuco.

Agencia Brazil news agency highlights that the Wellington Dias, Minister of Social Work, Family and Fight against Hunger, stressed that the figures are the result of the government’s efforts to resume public policies against hunger and poverty.

The survey also showed that 4.5 per cent of the population aged 0-4 and 4.9 per cent of the population aged 5-17 faced severe food insecurity. However, in the population aged 65 and over this proportion was 2.8 per cent.

The IBGE's public poll was carried out in 2023 in collaboration with the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (MDA) and was based on a methodology similar to that applied in 2022 by the Brazilian Research Network on Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security (Red Penssan).

In the last year there has also been a greater distribution of income due to the improvement of the labour market and the increase in the minimum wage, which during the Lula government has risen 6.97%, from 1,320 reais (258 dollars) to 1,412 reais (276 dollars).