Politic and policies for food and nutrition security: Meanings given by urban community leaders and residents of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

Abstract

The program Fome Zero and the resulting Food and Nutrition Security (FNS) policies have turned Brazil into an international reference for social technologies that promote access to food. This article analyzes the perceptions of community leaders and/or residents of a poor neighborhood in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, regarding the State’s action in FNS. The methodology combined conceptual maps and focus group that were implemented in two different moments (2014 and 2016, respectively) of a participatory action research. Results highlight, at both times, the distance of local actors regarding FNS policies. At the beginning of the action research, perceptions on FNS emphasized individuals’ responsibility, showing the unawareness on the human right to food. Two years later, narratives of the focus group heavily criticized the State for not complying with its obligations. In the participants’ discourse, hunger and food and nutrition insecurity appear as both the expression and the instrument of historically established oppression systems – racial, patriarchal, and of social class. The discussion on which interests are defended by the State brings forward the issue of democracy and representativeness. The distrust regarding social and FNS policies constitute a crucial problem to be explored in the current context of policy decommissioning and democratic setbacks.