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Multilevel governance

Brazil: National Food and Nutrition Security System (Sisan)

Brazil's national food security governance is managed by the Sistema Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (Sisan), or National Food and Nutritional Security System. Established by Law No. 11.346 in 2006, Sisan was created to guarantee the Human Right to Adequate Food. The system's central innovation is its legally mandated, dual-pillar design, which divides governance functions into two interdependent bodies:

  1. Interministerial Chamber of Food and Nutritional Security (Caisan): The inter-ministerial "government pillar," composed of 24 ministries and led by the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family, and Fight against Hunger (MDS). It is responsible for the horizontal coordination and implementation of food security policies and budgets.
  2. National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (Consea): The "social participation pillar" and the primary instrument of social accountability. It is composed of ministries that are part of Caisan (1/3) and civil society organisations (2/3).

Caisan is an inter-ministerial chamber responsible for the horizontal (inter-sectoral) and vertical (federative) coordination of food and nutritional security policies. Its legal mandate is to harmonize policies across various ministries to ensure coherence and prevent duplication. Affiliated with the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family, and Fight against Hunger (MDS), Caisan is composed of 24 ministries. Its primary function is to formulate and implement the National Food and Nutritional Security Plan (Plansan). Caisan utilizes the Cadastro Único (Single Registry) to identify families at risk of food insecurity, allowing for the coordinated targeting of income transfers (like Bolsa Família) and food programs.

In 2023, the Plano Brasil Sem Fome  (Brazil Without Hunger Plan) was launched to address a critical situation in which 33 million people were facing severe food insecurity. This plan consolidates actions from member ministries into three axes: income access and poverty reduction; healthy food production and consumption; and mobilization against hunger. From 2025 onwards, this Plan was integrated into the 3rd National Food and Nutritional Security Plan, consisting of eight announcements: Strengthening the National System, Overcoming hunger; Access to land and water; Resilient food systems; Promoting healthy food production; Health and nutrition; Combating inequalities and International cooperation.

Consea serves as the primary instrument of social accountability within Sisan. While legally a consultative body to the President of the Republic, its mandate includes proposing policy guidelines, independently monitoring government actions, and convening the National Conferences on Food and Nutritional Security (CNSAN). Through these bottom-up, multilevel conferences, delegates vote on priorities that form the basis of the Plansan. Consea’s structure is its key mechanism for inclusive decision-making: it is legally defined by a two-thirds civil society majority, and the chair of the Council is chosen from among the representatives of civil society. The council comprises 60 members:

  • 24 from the government (the ministers of Caisan)
  • 48 representatives from civil society.

As Sisan is a national system, it depends on inter-federative coordination. Thus, there are Councils and Chambers in all Brazilian states, and it is currently expanding to the municipal level. Similarly, states and municipalities are expected to hold their Food and Nutrition Security Conferences, with broad participation from civil society, so that they can develop their Food and Nutrition Security plans, as is done at the federal level. An agreement between federal, state, and municipal governments is necessary for the implementation of Sisan.     

This governance system led to key policy innovations, such as Law 11.947/2009 for the Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar (PNAE), which mandates 45% procurement from family farms. Similarly, the system champions the Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos (PAA), which strengthens family farming by purchasing food for distribution to vulnerable populations and serves as a strategic incentive for municipalities to join the Sisan framework. Finally, there is also the Cisterns programme, a social technology that has become a public policy responsible for ensuring quality of life and food production in Brazil's semi-arid region.

The Sisan framework addresses inequalities through both pillars. On the social side, Consea’s 48 civil society members are selected to be diverse and representative , providing a formal channel for urban and rural organizations, indigenous peoples, traditional communities, family farmers, black people movements, and homeless populations, among others to monitor and propose policies. On the government side, the 2023 expansion of Caisan formalized the commitment to addressing specific vulnerabilities by integrating the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, the Ministry of Racial Equality, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Human Rights. This broader understanding of vulnerability is operationalized through new monitoring tools, such as CADInsan and data from the Indigenous Health Care Information System (SIASI).

The system faced significant disruption when Consea was abolished in 2019, leaving Caisan effectively dormant. Both were formally reactivated in February 2023, restoring the dual-pillar governance model as the centrepiece of the "Brasil Sem Fome" strategy. Evidence suggests this restoration has contributed to rapid improvements in policy adherence—with expanded municipal coverage of Sisan—as well as to better food security outcomes and the unprecedented results in reducing food insecurity and inequalities in Brazil.

The coverage of the National Food and Nutrition Security System (Sisan) is defined by a dual-pillar structure that combines governmental adhesion with social participation. On the governmental side (Caisan), coverage is federative: the system has achieved 100% adherence at the state level and, following its 2023 reactivation, expanded to 2,006 municipalities by 2024, covering over 60% of the Brazilian population. This is complemented by the social participation pillar (Consea), which ensures representative coverage through 48 national civil society member organisations and a vertical network of state and municipal councils, securing the representation of millions of Brazilians and specific sub-populations such as family farmers and indigenous peoples.

As the National Food and Nutrition Security System (Sisan) is a governance framework and not a single programme, its costs are disaggregated.

The costs related to Caisan are twofold:

  1. Coordination Costs for its Executive Secretariat, housed within the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger (MDS), including administrative demands, the mobilization of states and municipalities to join the system, and the costs of monitoring food and nutritional security indicators.; and
  2. Programmatic Costs, which represent the aggregated Food and Nutritional Security budgets of the 24 member ministries allocated to execute the Brazil Without Hunger Plan and the National Food and Nutritional Security Plan.

Similarly, Consea costs are divided into:

  1. Administrative Costs for its Executive Secretariat, funded by the Secretariat-General of the Presidency of the Republic; and
  2. Activity Costs for major participatory events. Notably, the 6th National FSN Conference (2023) received a specific allocation of BRL 8.7 million (approx. USD 1.6 million), jointly funded by three ministries to support the multilevel consultation process.

Integrated Multilevel, Multisectoral, and Participatory Governance:

Caisan provides the interministerial and federative coordination (federal, state, municipal) required for policy implementation, while Consea ensures Multistakeholder Participatory Governance, institutionalizing the engagement of civil society in the monitoring and formulation of policies.

Caisan is responsible for the official technical instruments used to monitor the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan (Plansan). This includes the development of specific tools such as CADInsan, which maps municipal severe food insecurity risk using administrative data from the Cadastro Único (Single Registry), and the Food Insecurity Risk Screening (TRIA), a rapid screening tool integrated into the primary healthcare system. Caisan also manages the strategic partnership with the IBGE to conduct the official national food security survey (EBIA), , which allows for an understanding of the levels of food security and insecurity in the country and in the states; the Municipal Basic Information Survey (MUNIC) and the State Basic Information Survey (ESTADIC), which allows for an understanding of the degree of institutionalization of Sisan; and the Family Budget Survey (POF), which allows the collection of information on food consumption. Caisan also and publishes formal performance reports based on these researches.

Consea operates as the system's "social accountability" mechanism. It operationalises its monitoring function through plenary sessions and working groups, which are mandated to receive and debate the official monitoring reports produced by Caisan. Based on its independent analysis of this government data, Consea monitors the execution of the Plansan and issues official "Recommendations" and "Explanatory Memoranda" to the President and relevant ministries to ensure accountability.

Balanço de Atividades da Câmara Interministerial de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (Caisan): A Retomada do Sisan e os Avanços na Garantia do Direito Humano à Alimentação Adequada (Ministério do Desenvolvimento e Assistência Social, Família e Combate à Fome, 2025).

Evidence from the 2023-2024 biennium, following the reactivation of the Sisan, highlights significant improvements in national indicators. Severe food insecurity (hunger) fell from 15.5% (Vigisan 2021-2022) to 4.1% (PNAD C 2023), representing 24.4 million people exiting this condition. In the same period, the extreme poverty rate fell from 5.9% in 2022 to 4.4% in 2023 (3.1 million people), and the general poverty rate fell from 31.6% to 27.4% (8.6 million people). This progress was underpinned by a major expansion of the system's coverage; municipal adherence to Sisan increased from 536 in January 2023 to 2,006 by 2024 (a 160% increase), reaching over 60% of the Brazilian population.

Caisan expanded from 9 to 24 ministries and held 20 plenums, resulting in the approval of three national plans—including the Plano Brasil Sem Fome (Brazil Without Hunger Plan), which articulates 80 programmes—and the issuance of 23 normative Resolutions. Its monitoring function was operationalised through tools like CADInsan and TRIA, and by resuming the partnership with IBGE for the national food insecurity survey (EBIA). For Consea (social participation), the reactivation was marked by the organization of the National Conference (CNSAN), preceded by over 1,000 municipal-level conferences. This structure was supported by significant capacity building, with approximately 4,000 managers and counsellors trained through distance learning (Trilha FormaSAN) and the facilitation of 15 virtual "Federative Dialogue Cycle" workshops to strengthen multilevel governance the programme, in conjunction with local sensitization efforts by NGOs and churches, is contributing to a reduction in disability-related stigma.

Brazil’s Return to the Hunger Map: An Analysis of Public Policies and Effective Measures for Food Security (Domingos et al., 2023).

Evaluations of the Sisan's trajectory provide critical insights into the relationship between governance structures and food security outcomes. An assessment of the first Plano Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (I Plansan, 2012–2015), coordinated by Caisan, documented the system's effectiveness in translating civil society guidelines into formal policy and reducing poverty. Data published by Caisan (2013) showed that 22.1 million Bolsa Família beneficiaries overcame poverty between 2011 and 2013. However, the evaluation identified a critical lesson regarding policy design: the plan's excessive number of goals made effective monitoring difficult, a function that was further diminished in the subsequent II Plansan (2016–2019).

The analysis concludes that this weakening of monitoring culminated in a critical institutional failure with the 2019 abolition of Consea. This dismantling was characterised as an unprotective measure and a deliberate choice not to monitor food access measures. The extinction of the council severed the formal dialogue between government and civil society, reduced participation in decision-making, and hindered the public dissemination of data. This institutional deconstruction is linked to severe socioeconomic impacts, including the "invisibility of vulnerable groups facing hunger" and a reported 45% increase in the cost of the basic food basket between 2016 and 2022.

Consea is back! Or how to resist in challenging times (Recine, 2023).

The study concludes that the extinction of Consea on January 1, 2019 was a critical turning point that interrupted an intersectoral system of public policies articulating health, education, economy, and culture. The analysis suggests that while not the sole cause of the ensuing food crisis, Consea's absence confirmed the impermeability of the Federal Government to the hunger situation and its refusal to recognize the importance of dialoguing with civil society. This institutional weakening and disruption of the social safety net coincided with a severe rise in food insecurity, as the number of people experiencing hunger rose from 19.1 million in 2020 to 33 million by early 2022.

The study also finds that intense mobilization from civil society, fuelled by these hunger statistics, was instrumental in reversing this scenario. Consea was formally reinstated on January 1, 2023, marking an "era of overcoming and new challenges." The reinstalled council defined two strategic axes: (1) emergency measures to overcome hunger articulated with actions addressing the roots of inequality, and (2) the "overcoming of hunger with real food."

Covid-19 pandemic implications for food and nutrition security in Brazil (Ribeiro-Silva et al., 2020).

The study identifies the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (Consea) as strategic equipment for constructing Food and Nutritional Security (FNS) policies. It concludes that the extinction of Consea in January 2019 was an unprotective measure that exposed the State’s failure to reduce inequalities, tackle food and nutritional insecurity. The analysis posits that this institutional dismantling made already food-deprived households most vulnerable to hunger before the start of the Covid-19 epidemiological scenario, crippling Brazil's ability to protect its citizens when the subsequent health crisis arrived.

Spotlight Report Synthesis IV Brazil 2020 (Civil Society Working Group for the 2030 Agenda, 2020)

This report analyses the institutional weakening and setbacks in combating hunger (SDG 2) and food waste (SDG 12) in Brazil, registering that the National Council for Food and Nutritional Security (Consea) was dissolved in 2019. The study directly associates this extinction with a lack of strategic policies to support food security and decreased social participation, identifying these as factors that contributed to the rise in hunger and food insecurity. The document concludes that the reinstatement of Consea with active participation of civil society is necessary to develop a new National Plan for Food and Nutrition Security (Plansan).

Regarding Caisan:

  • A dedicated, high-level (24-ministry) intersectoral body is essential for ensuring policy coherence, implementing a unified national plan, and providing the federative coordination needed to scale national policy to the municipal level.
  • In order to promote integrated policies, ensure that each ministry sees itself reflected in the food and nutritional security agenda, and that everyone participates effectively in an intersectoral chamber. It is necessary that the fight against hunger gains centrality in the government and that the head of the executive branch determines its priority.
  • A flexible structure that can be expanded (e.g., adding new ministries) allows the governance body to adapt to new national priorities, such as climate change, racial equality, and indigenous rights.
  • The Chamber needs to be able to define strategic priorities, considering the breadth of the food and nutritional security agenda; otherwise, it risks failing to coordinate the initiatives that need to be agreed upon—the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan itself is organized around intersectoral strategies.
  • Inter-governmental coordination (Caisan) alone is insufficient. Academic evaluations and performance data show that it requires a complementary "social accountability" pillar (Consea) for monitoring functions to be effective and to prevent policy implementation fragmentation and dismantling.
  • The representatives from the ministries participating in Caisan are the same ones who represent the government on Consea, which facilitates receiving demands from civil society and transforming those demands into public policies.


Regarding Consea:

  • Institutionalizing social participation (not just consultation) with a 2/3 civil society majority and a direct advisory line to the Presidency creates a powerful mechanism for policy innovation, accountability, and a "whole-of-society" approach.
  • The 2019 dissolution demonstrates that such participatory bodies, while powerful, are vulnerable to political shifts. Their power depends on high-level political will. Its removal breaks the social accountability function, leading to a collapse in monitoring and policy coherence.
  • The National Conference (CNSAN) model is a highly effective, large-scale multilevel governance process for gathering grassroots demands from municipal, state, and national levels and translating them into national planning.

Government & Public Institutions:

Civil Society & Academia:

Sisan overview: https://www.gov.br/mds/pt-br/Caisan/sisan

Caisan website: https://www.gov.br/mds/pt-br/Caisan

Consea website: https://www.gov.br/secretariageral/pt-br/consea


SDG 1 - No poverty

  • Target 1.3 - Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable.
    • Indicator 1.3.1 - Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable


SDG 2 - Zero Hunger:

  • Target 2.1 - By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round  
    • Indicator 2.1.1 - Prevalence of undernourishment
    • Indicator 2.1.2 - Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
  • Target 2.2 - By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition... and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
    • Indicator 2.2.1 - Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age
    • Indicator 2.2.2 - Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
    • Indicator 2.2.3 - Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)
    • Indicator 2.2.4 - Prevalence of minimum dietary diversity, by population group (children aged 6 to 23.9 months and non-pregnant women aged 15 to 49 years)
  • Target 2.3 - By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment
    • Indicator 2.3.1 - Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size
    • Indicator 2.3.2 - Average income of small-scale food producers, by sex and indigenous status
  • Target 2.4 - By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality
    • Indicator 2.4.1 - Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture


SDG 4 – Quality education

  • Target 4.1 - By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
    • Indicator 4.1.1 - Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex


SGD 6 – Clean water and sanitation

  • Target 6.1 - By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all
    • Indicator 6.1.1 - Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services
  • Target 6.4 - By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity
    • Indicator 6.4.1 - Change in water-use efficiency over time
    • Indicator 6.4.2 - Level of water stress: freshwater withdrawal as a proportion of available freshwater resources


SDG 13 – Climate action

  • Target 13.1 - Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
    • Indicator 13.1.1 - Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population


SDG 16 – Peace, Justice and strong institutions

  • Target 16.7 - Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels
    • Indicator 16.7.1 - Proportions of positions in national and local institutions, including (a) the legislatures; (b) the public service; and (c) the judiciary, compared to national distributions, by sex, age, persons with disabilities and population groups
    • Indicator 16.7.2 - Proportion of population who believe decision-making is inclusive and responsive, by sex, age, disability and population group


SDG 17 – Partnership for the Goals

  • Target 17.17 - Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships
    • Indicator 17.17.1 - Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure
Conditional cash transfer (CCT);
School meals programmes;
Unconditional cash transfer;
Access to basic drinking water and sanitation services, and hygiene facilities;
Access to irrigation;
Institutional markets, including public procurement and pro-poor food pricing;
Pro-poor access to agricultural inputs, technology and knowledge;
Maternal and early childhood nutrition;
Prevention and control of micronutrient deficiencies;
Prevention, detection and management of malnutrition;
Promotion and access to healthy diets, including through education and affordable/subsidized prices;
Social registry

Related Policy Instruments

Multilevel governance