Brazil Honors Pioneering Public Policies in Hunger Reduction at Brazil Without Hunger Prize
Brazil celebrates pioneering states and municipalities with Brazil Without Hunger Prize, recognizing transformative efforts reducing food insecurity and poverty nationwide in 2025.
- • Brazil removed from UN Hunger Map with under 2.5% at risk of malnutrition between 2022-2024.
- • Over 40 initiatives were honored, including Ceará’s major improvement in food security among households.
- • More than 10 million Brazilians have exited poverty from 2023 to 2024, according to IBGE.
- • Programs like Ceará Sem Fome and Pernambuco’s Bom Prato received special recognition for their impact.
Key details
On December 17, the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family, and Combating Hunger (MDS) held the inaugural Brazil Without Hunger Prize ceremony at Brasília's National Theater, celebrating over 40 state and municipal initiatives that effectively reduced food insecurity across Brazil. This event marked a milestone following Brazil’s removal from the UN’s Hunger Map—a reflection of a three-year average (2022-2024) showing less than 2.5% of the population at risk of malnutrition.
The ceremony spotlighted achievements such as Ceará’s substantial increase in household food security, with Faritta Nascimento sharing how the Ceará Sem Fome program helped her transition from precarious jobs to entrepreneurship. Pernambuco’s Bom Prato program, feeding 50,000 people daily, and Alagoas’s intersectoral fight against extreme poverty were also recognized. Sergipe earned distinction for reaching 100% adherence to the National Food and Nutritional Security System (Sisan).
Minister Wellington Dias highlighted over 10 million Brazilians escaping poverty between 2023-2024, supported by IBGE’s report of the country’s lowest poverty levels since 2012. Secretary Valéria Burity emphasized that continuous political commitment remains essential for sustained hunger reduction. The awards honored innovations strengthening Sisan and improving access to adequate food, featuring categories for food insecurity reduction, Sisan effectiveness, and exemplary hunger-combat practices.
The ceremony was also a platform for beneficiaries like Maria Sales from Ceará, illustrating personal transformations enabled by social policies. Elizabetta Recine, President of the National Council of Food and Nutrition Security (Consea), stressed the ongoing need for efforts guaranteeing healthy and affordable food.
The event underlined Brazil’s progress while reinforcing the necessity for persistent action and collaboration among states, municipalities, and communities in sustaining hunger eradication gains.
This article was synthesized and translated from native language sources to provide English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
