Brazil sees over 100 countries joining alliance against hunger, minister says

Brazil sees over 100 countries joining alliance against hunger, minister says

By Marcela Ayres and Bernardo Caram

More than 100 countries are expected to back a global alliance against hunger that Brazil has proposed to counter the increasing number of people going hungry in the world, a Brazilian minister said.

Minister of Social Development Wellington Dias told Reuters in an interview on Thursday he will travel to the United Nations next week to promote the alliance, a cornerstone initiative of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to reduce poverty in Brazil and worldwide.

Since Lula took office last year for a third non-consecutive term, Brazil has made strides in reducing food insecurity and poverty in Latin America's largest economy, the minister said.

Brazil expects substantial support for the initiative within the G20 group of rich nations that the South American country presides over this year.

The official launch of the so-called Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty is planned for the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November, but all issues regarding the agreement texts have been fully resolved, Diaz said, paving the way for several countries to announce their endorsement as early as July at a G20 meeting in the Brazilian city.

"We are working signed commitments, and I think it is possible to reach over a hundred countries by November," he said.

The alliance aims to establish mechanisms for efficient financial and knowledge resource allocation. Its target is to remove all countries from the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) hunger map by 2030.

Brazil achieved this goal in 2014 with an undernourishment rate below 2.5% for three years, but was back on the hunger map in 2021, when the rate rose to 4.1%, worsening to 4.7% in 2022.

The FAO will publish its annual report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) later this month and is expected to show hunger rising in the world in 2023.

Dias said it should reflect an improvement in Brazil's index as data from the country's statistics agency showed the number of people facing severe food insecurity fell to 8.7 million from 33.1 million in 2022.

"Brazil will likely be one of the countries with the greatest, if not the greatest, reduction in food insecurity relative to its population, as well as in extreme poverty and poverty," the minister said, adding that this will enhance his country's credentials in leading the proposed global alliance.

Dias said Brazil's target is to leave the hunger map again by 2026, when Lula ends his term.