Graziano Da Silva, Jose, Eduardo Del Grossi, Mauro and Galvao De Franca, Caio
(eds.) (2011), The Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) Program: The Brazilian Experience, FAO
and Ministry of Agrarian Development, Brasilia, pp. 360.
The Zero Hunger Programme initiated by the Government of President Luiz Inacio
Da Silva – President Lula – in Brazil in 2003 has today become one of the most cited
examples of successful public action to reduce food and nutritional deprivation.
Using an absolute poverty line (one dollar a day adjusted for regional price differences),
there was a reduction in the number of poor people in Brazil by 20 million between
2003 and 2009. In terms of the poverty ratio, or proportion of the population below
the poverty line, the ratio fell from 28.1 per cent in 2003 to 15.4 per cent in 2009.
While the absolute reduction was larger in urban areas, the reduction in the poverty
ratio was higher in rural areas. The sharpest reduction in the poverty ratio was in the
Northeast region of Brazil, the poorest region of the country. By halving the poverty
ratio in just six years – a remarkable achievement – the country achieved the first of
the Millennium Development Goals ten years before the deadline.