The role of the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA) and the Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE) in the strengthening of family farming and the promotion of food security

Abstract

Once elected President Lula, the federal government launched in 2003 the Programa Fome Zero, a campaign promise, with encompassed previous initiatives as the Programa Comunidade Solidária and created new mechanisms to stimulate production and income generation among rural families. In the sphere of this ample policy to combat poverty, that has in the Programa Bolsa Família its most visible expression, other initiatives are contributing to join problems of an eminent social character as food restriction and income shortage with the need to stimulate and strengthen family farming. The Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA), created in 2003, and the Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE), regulated by the Law 11.947 of 2009 were born as intersetorial programs that, among other objectives, tried to bring about and operate the necessary association between the local family production and the consumption of food in quantities and quality compatible with the concept of food security as defined by the Law 11.346 of 2006. This article presents the results of interviews with 93 families in settlement areas, ten cooperatives and associations of family farmers and 186 participants in the seminar “Alimentação Escolar e Agricultura Familiar: a Aplicação da Lei 11.947/2009 no Estado de São Paulo”, held in July 2012 in Jaboticabal/SP. The information collected allows the conclusion that despite the importance and the possibilities that the association of family farming with local development and food security represent, as proposed by PAA and PNAE, participation in these programs is still restrict to a small number of farmers.