The federal government relaunched, this Wednesday (22), the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), in a ceremony at the Geraldo Magalhães sports gym – “Geraldão”no Recife.
The announcement was received with enthusiasm and good expectations by family farmers and representatives of popular movements who were participating in the event.
For Denise Alves dos Santos, a worker camped at Acampamento São Francisco de Assis, in the municipality of Vitória de Santo Antão, in Pernambuco, the resumption of the program is much more than an action by the public authorities. It means the hope of generating income from one’s own work and strengthening a healthy food distribution network.
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“We want to have this incentive of being able to show people what it’s like to have a healthy diet at home, whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And we, in the countryside, provide this for the people who are in the city.”
Family farmer Dorézio Plácido da Silva, from the city of Orobó, in the rural region of Pernambuco, made a point of attending the event to check up close the resumption of the program, one of the main agendas of the population that lives in the countryside.
He explains that the functioning of the PAA favors, among other objectives, the guarantee that the farmer will remain in the field and will have the financial conditions to take care of his own land.
“Many times, we produce and have no one to sell the production to. It goes to Recife, to Ceasa and it is very difficult. With the PAA, we are sure that we will produce and have guaranteed sales”.
President Lula participates in the relaunch ceremony of the Food Acquisition Program / Ricardo Stuckert/PR
Created in 2033, the Food Acquisition Program was part of the program’s strategies Fome Zero and its purpose was to reduce the level of food insecurity while supporting family farming.
In 2021, the Bolsonaro government, through a Provisional Measure, changed the name of the program and, according to experts, mischaracterized it. O Feed Brazil, as it was called by the previous government, it had limited scope and prevented more expressive food donations.
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The program Central do Brasil this Thursday (23) discussed with other details the perspective of Family Farmers on the resumption of the program.
Now, the Food Acquisition Program resumes the original characteristics and incorporates new objectives. In this new version of the program, the government increased the annual individual quota that each farmer and their associations can sell for the program, going from R$ 12,000 to R$ 15,000.
The new modality of the PAA also makes it easier for indigenous and quilombola farmers to become program suppliers. It also guarantees priority access to the service to workers included in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government – the Cadúnico.
The government wants that, with the new format, the program also has a greater participation of women farmers, reaching 50% representation among suppliers.
“Women being seen in this resumption is a very important and necessary achievement. Not only women, but the involvement of agroecological diversity”, explained Alexsandra Maria da Silva, president of Serta.
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Popular movements and the PAA
Leaders of popular movements in the countryside believe that the resumption of the program is important, but it needs to be closely observed, so that it does not deviate from the original essence.
“The PAA was an important program in the first Lula government. It was created with great expectations, it advanced with some mistakes and we accepted the process. Gradually, it was wearing out, especially in the Bolsonaro government. It practically ceased to exist. We We fulfilled the role of showing solidarity in the pandemic. Now, it is time for the PAA to strengthen those who produce food and, at the same time, at this point, ensure that society can put an end to hunger”, pointed out Jaime Amorim, from the national coordination of the Movement of Landless Rural Workers.
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Former mayor of Recife, current state deputy João Paulo (PT-PE) recalled the importance of the program also in supporting the municipal government, which generally has more direct and closer actions in the area of social assistance.
“We know that it is in the municipality that citizens experience the first needs for transportation, housing and food. When the government decides to direct the program to a significant portion of the municipalities, it is a way of getting closer to the poorest layers of our population,” he pointed out.
“It is very symbolic that the PAA is relaunched in a state in the Northeast, where the highest hunger rates are found. The PAA comes in a different format because Brazil is also in a new moment, of democratic recovery and reconstruction of the country, in which the president see the importance of family farming as the main combatant against hunger”, explained the state deputy of Pernambuco, Rosa Amorim (PT).
The program Central do Brasil is a production of Brazil in fact. It is shown from Monday to Friday, at 12:30 pm, by Rede TVT and partner public broadcasters throughout the country.
Editing: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
