Principal investigator: Viviane Pires Ribeiro
Paper Title: Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for food and nutritional security in Brazil
Authors: Rita de Cássia Ribeiro-Silva, Marcos Pereira, Tereza Campello, Érica Aragão, Jane Mary de Medeiros Guimarães, Andréa JF Ferreira, Maurício Lima Barreto and Sandra Maria Chaves dos Santos
Location of the Intervention: Brazil
Sample Size: Not included
Main theme: Health Insurance
Main Variable of Interest: Food and nutritional security
Type of Intervention: Debate on the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methodology: Bibliographic research
With the spread of COVID-19 throughout Brazil, the enormous discrepancy between different social realities that coexist in the country became even more evident, reigniting debates about Food and Nutritional Security (FNS). In this context, Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) discuss the repercussions of COVID-19 on the food and nutritional security situation and its interface with social protection policies, seeking to contribute to the debate on the measures to be adopted by governments and society to promote and guarantee FNS and prevent insecurity and the expansion of hunger from advancing during and after the social and health crisis generated by the pandemic.
Evaluation Context
In recent years, it has been observed that after decades of steady decline, the trend of world hunger, reflected in the prevalence of malnutrition, was reversed in 2015. Although rates remain virtually unchanged at a level slightly below 11%, the number of people affected by hunger has increased. In 2018, for example, approximately 821 million people worldwide were still suffering from hunger. Furthermore, estimates show that this situation may be exacerbated by the pandemic, pushing approximately 49 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2020.
In Brazil, malnutrition affected approximately 5,2 million people between 2015 and 2017. In addition to malnutrition, overweight and obesity continue to increase in all regions of the country, particularly among adolescents and adults. Low intake of micronutrients such as iron, calcium, and vitamins A and D, deficiency diseases known as "hidden hunger," remain significant nutritional problems among Brazilians, with serious implications for health and physical and cognitive development, directly impacting people's quality of life. Data also show that 27,2% of women of childbearing age (14 to 49 years) suffered from anemia during this period, and anemia is one of the nutritional problems that poses the most significant health risks, particularly when it occurs during pregnancy.
Intervention Details
Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) emphasize that unresolved social and economic inequalities, the advancement of neoliberal policies, and the dismantling of the system that included inclusive social policies promoting Food and Nutritional Security are contributing to the current Brazilian situation, which is likely to worsen given the impacts of the pandemic. Food insecurity in Brazilian households, whether mild, moderate, or severe, is likely to increase significantly with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, the authors seek to discuss the repercussions of COVID-19 on food and nutritional security and its interface with social protection policies.
Methodology Details
In order to contribute to the debate on measures to be adopted by governments and society to promote and guarantee food and nutritional security and prevent insecurity and the expansion of hunger from advancing during and after the social and health crisis generated by the pandemic, Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) analyze official documents on decrees and laws relating to the fight against COVID-19 at the state and federal levels. They prioritize actions aimed at income generation and interventions directed at guaranteeing adequate food. To this end, the study was designed in three parts: the first covers the context of social protection policies (the dismantling of social protection policies in Brazil); the second refers to the dimensions of food and nutritional security; and the third presents possible strategies for tackling hunger and paving the way for food and nutritional security in Brazil.
Results
The study conducted by Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) shows that the reduction in families' purchasing power and the rise in food prices in recent years were the main factors that led to considerable decreases in food consumption, particularly of nutritionally healthier foods. All this occurred amidst aggressive food environments, full of ultra-processed foods (easily accessible and low-cost), thus exacerbating the situation of food and nutritional insecurity among the most vulnerable. In this scenario, the authors emphasize that the dismantling of public policies and the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security exposes, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the State's omission in reducing inequalities and addressing food and nutritional insecurity in Brazil, and may leave people/families – already exposed to food deprivation – even more vulnerable to hunger before the start of this epidemiological scenario.
The analysis suggests that potential consequences of food and nutritional insecurity in Brazil include (directly or indirectly) negative effects on health and quality of life. The situation worsens when considering social groups that have not yet experienced a more solid process of inclusion in society to be reached by public policies, such as: descendants of quilombola communities, indigenous populations, traditional communities such as terreiro communities, fundo de pasto communities, coconut breakers, shellfish gatherers, artisanal fishermen, and the homeless population, among many other peoples and groups that make up Brazilian society. It is also important to consider the elderly (with difficulties in physically accessing food sales points), whether in their homes or institutionalized.
Therefore, the emergence and spread of the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus intensifies the problems that had already been accumulating regarding the Food and Nutritional Security of all, especially the most vulnerable in social, economic and health terms, signaling a possible increase in situations of hunger.
Lessons in Public Policy
After analyzing official documents on decrees and laws related to addressing COVID-19 at the state and federal levels, Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) realized that there is a real situation exacerbated by the health crisis and the social distancing measures that were applied in Brazil, resulting in profound economic impacts on income and employment conditions. If this scenario persists, according to the authors, many Brazilians may die from lack of food. Thus, in revealing this situation, the need arises for solutions that place life and human dignity at the center of decisions and public policies, safeguarding human rights. That is, in the case of the Human Right to Adequate Food, it means ensuring that all people, especially the most vulnerable, have access to adequate and healthy food to meet the requirements of social distancing.
In this sense, the challenge is to ensure different mechanisms that contribute to guaranteeing the Human Right to Adequate Food, enhancing different food supply strategies. Therefore, strengthening the Food Acquisition Program (notably the Direct Purchase and Purchase with Simultaneous Donation modalities) and the continued operation of the National School Feeding Program (adjusted to the sanitary demands of COVID-19) are some of the measures that can be quickly activated. Furthermore, extraordinary social protection policies, such as the distribution of family farming products, adapted to the necessary sanitary precautions to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 dissemination, are of paramount importance as a specific strategy to mitigate hunger among various vulnerable groups in Brazil.
Ribeiro-Silva et al. (2020) also recommend including food education initiatives that guide and encourage the adoption/maintenance of healthy eating habits for the whole family, including the always timely encouragement of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months as a safe and essential nutritional practice for children under 2 years of age – considering sanitary precautionary measures. Finally, the authors emphasize the importance of strengthening the surveillance and monitoring system for the spread of the virus, with a view to defining aligned strategies for tackling COVID-19.
References
RIBEIRO-SILVA, Rita de Cássia et al. Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for food and nutritional security in Brazil. Public Science & Health, v. 25, p. 3421-3430, 2020.
