President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended this Monday (13), during the opening of the World Food Forum, in Rome, that the poor be included in the budget of their countries. “It’s not about welfare,” he assured.
“It is necessary to put the poor in the budget and transform this objective into State policy. To prevent progress from being at the mercy of crises or political tides. Even leaders of countries with small budgets can and need to make this choice.”
In his speech, Lula highlighted the announcement made by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that Brazil had once again left the hunger map.
“Thirty million people started having lunch, dinner and coffee. In 2024, we reached the lowest proportion of households in a situation of severe food insecurity in our history”, he said.
The president also mentioned that Brazil recorded, in the same period, the lowest proportion of households with children under 5 years old in a situation of severe food insecurity since 2024. “We are interrupting the cycle of exclusion”.
“A sovereign country is a country capable of feeding its people. Hunger is the enemy of democracy and the full exercise of citizenship. It is possible to overcome it through government action, but governments can only act if they have the means”, assessed Lula.
To this end, according to the president, expanding financing for development, reducing borrowing costs, improving tax systems and alleviating the debts of poorer countries are crucial measures.
“It is not enough to produce. It is necessary to distribute. Few initiatives would contribute as much to food security as a reform of the international financial architecture, which would direct resources to those who need it most.”
In his speech, Lula highlighted that Latin America and the Caribbean experience the paradox of being the breadbasket of the world while living with hunger. Africa, according to him, is registering economic growth and a worrying increase in food insecurity levels.
