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
• Target 2.2 – By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, 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)
• 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
  • Indicator 4.1.2 – Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)

• Target 4.2 – By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
  • Indicator 4.2.1 – Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
  • Indicator 4.2.2 – Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex

SDG 12 – Responsible consumption and production

• Target 12.7 – Promote public procurement practices that are sustainable, in accordance with national policies and priorities
  • Indicator 12.7.1 – Number of countries implementing sustainable public procurement policies and action plans

SDG 17 – Partnership for the Goals

• Target 17.16 – Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
  • Indicator 17.16.1 – Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

The Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE) is a school feeding program created in 1955 and consists of the automatic transfer of federal financial resources via the National Education Development Fund (FNDE) to finance meals for students enrolled in all stages and modalities of basic education in municipal, district, state and federal education networks and in entities qualified as philanthropic or maintained by them, in religious schools maintained by non-profit entities and in community schools in partnership with the States, the Federal District and Municipalities.

Its main objective is to contribute to the growth and bio-psychosocial development, learning, academic performance and the formation of healthy eating habits of students, through food and nutritional education actions and the provision of meals that cover their nutritional needs during the school year.

The PNAE is a fundamental axis for guaranteeing food and nutrition security in the country, based on the use of healthy and adequate food, including the use of varied, safe foods that respect culture, traditions and healthy eating habits; development of food and nutrition education actions; the right to school meals, aiming to guarantee food and nutritional security for students, with equal access, respecting the biological differences between ages and health conditions of students who need specific attention and those who are in situation of social vulnerability.

• Based on dietary guidelines and with views to promote sustainable development, with appreciation of locally produced food, Article 14 of Law No. 11.947/2009 establishes that at least 30% of the federal resources directed to the PNAE must be must be used in the direct purchase of products from family farming and rural family entrepreneurs or their organizations, prioritizing settlements of agrarian reform, traditional indigenous communities, quilombola communities and formal and informal women’s groups;

• Acquisition of food from family farming, when purchased from an individual rural family, must be made in the woman’s name for at least 50% of the value purchased (Law No. 14.660/2023);
• Facilitation of access for traditional peoples and communities, regarding the documentation required from suppliers for family farming purchases (Technical Note 3744623/2023);
• Differentiated per capita amount in federal transfers for students in Indigenous populations and areas of remaining quilombo communities;
• The PNAE legislation defines the obligation for nutritionists to observe local food cultures, including Indigenous and quilombolas food cultures, when preparing school meal menus and the effective participation of Indigenous representatives in the School Feeding Council (CAE) of states and municipalities that have students enrolled in Indigenous areas or areas of quilombolas communities.

* Sustainable school feeding programs must be based on intersectorality: involving components of gender equality, purchases from family farming, social participation and control, nutrition and health, food and nutritional education, active participation of traditional peoples and communities, among other themes. The PNAE has, throughout its history, developed new components beyond serving meals to students in Brazil. Government officials working at the FNDE and the Ministry of Education, in partnership with other ministries and civil society organizations, has diversified the programme, focusing on components such as family farming and food and nutrition education.

• School feeding programs, in order to have continuity, institutional space and budgetary provision, must be referenced by legislation. Law 11.947/2009 ensured continuity, universality and secured the programme against possible changes in government.
• Ensure annual adjustment of per capita school feeding amounts, in order to minimize the impact of inflation in food products. The PNAE endured six years without adjustments in the per capita amounts, what was increased in early 2023. The experience has shown the need for automatic adjustments – or similar approaches – as well as for the creation of the new financial distribution matrix that improves equity in the distribution of resources. As federal resources are supplementary and states and municipalities share the financial costs with the programme, richer subnational entities have more means to guarantee diversified and healthy meals.
• Partnerships with universities and research centers – such as the PNAE’s Collaborating Centers for School Food and Nutrition (CECANE, in Portuguese) – are useful practices that help collect data on the program and for monitoring activities. Studies and research on the programme – its coverage, successes, financial expenditure etc. – are essential for it to progress.
• Strengthen inclusion and diversity in the criteria for meeting public procurement requirements for school feeding programs, enabling, for example, access by traditional peoples and communities to institutional markets. Beyond ensuring more equity to the PNAE, diversity is necessary to secure more operationality to the programme as well as to make it better reflect different local realities. Technical Note No. 3744623/2023, for example, guides states and municipalities to accept the registration of the Social Identification Number (NIS) of the indigenous, quilombola, or PCT family farmer in the [[Brazil:Single Registry|Single Registry]] (CadÚnico), when the Declaration of Aptitude for the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (DAP Pronaf) and the National Registry of Family Farming (CAF) are not presented.
• Social participation is essential to ensure the involvement of communities, parents, and students. Reflecting that perspective, the FNDE/PNAE requires that all states and municipalities, to receive funds from the federal government, to constitute school feeding councils (CAE, in Portuguese).
• Programs that purchase from family farms (HGSF) provide fresh and nutritious food, guarantee income for small producers, and create a virtuous cycle in the contact between schools and communities. At least 30% of PNAE resources, according to Law 11.947/2009, are allocated to the purchase of food produced by family farmers. The FNDE, knowing the need to develop the role of family farming, are prioritizing formal and informal groups of women family farmers in the food purchases for the PNAE.
• School meals should be defined based on nutritional guidelines that encourage the consumption of natural or minimally processed foods.

Child and family support/benefits; Access to basic education; Institutional markets, including public procurement and pro-poor food pricing; Promoting short value chains; Integrated programmes for human capital development, including health and education and early childhood development; Prevention, detection and management of malnutrition; Maternal and early childhood nutrition; Promotion and access to healthy diets, including through education and affordable/subsidized prices

Research Consortium for School Health and Nutrition– a research initiative of the School Meals Coalition

Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA)

Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES)

World Food Programme’s Centre of Excellence against Hunger in Brazil (WFP)

Network of School Feeding and Nutrition Collaborative Centers (CECANEs) – 24 Brazilian universities that partner with FNDE and conduct studies on PNAE

Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG)

Multilevel governance, involving the federal government (supplementary transfers, regulations, guidance and technical assistance, monitoring and evaluation, and international cooperation), state, district, and municipal governments (transfers for school meals, purchases from family farming, hiring and training of lunch ladies, rural extension, school infrastructure, definition of menus).

• The National Fund for Education Development (FNDE), a federal autarchy created by Law No. 5,537, of November 21, 1968, and amended by Decree-Law No. 872, of September 15, 1969, is responsible for implementing the educational policies of the Ministry of Education (MEC), as with the PNAE. To achieve improvement and ensure quality education for all, especially in public basic education, the FNDE has become the largest partner of the 26 states, the 5,570 municipalities, and the Federal District. In this context, the financial transfers are divided into constitutional, automatic, and voluntary.
• In addition to innovating the government procurement model and the management of the Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and the Valorization of Education Professionals (Fundeb), of the Student Financing Fund (Fies) and of scholarships and grants, the various ongoing projects and programs — PNAE, Brazilian Textbook and Teaching Materials Programme (PNLD), Direct Money in Schools Programme (PDDE), National School Transportation Programme (PNATE), Restructuring and Acquisition of Equipment for Public Early Childhood Education Programme (Proinfancia) — make the FNDE a reference institution in Brazilian Education. The FNDE is also an essential player of the National Pact for the Resumption of Basic Education Construction Projects (Pacto Nacional pela Retomada de Obras da Educação Básica, in Portuguese), conducted by the federal government.

• The National Council for Food Security and Nutrition (CONSEA, in Portuguese) is an immediate advisory body to the Brazilian Presidency regarding participation and social control of formulation, monitoring and evaluation of public policies concerning food and nutritional security. The council was established in 1993, but closed down in 2019 by the former government, being reactivated in 2023. The reactivation of Consea is crucial to Brazil’s PNAE, since one of the program’s main guidelines is the definition of healthy and quality school meals that are available for all.
• The Interministerial Chamber of Food and Nutrition Security (CAISAN) promotes coordination between public administration bodies and entities in the area of ​​food and nutrition security. Among its duties, CAISAN monitors and evaluates the results and impacts of the National Policy on Food and Nutrition Security and the National System for Food and Nutrition Security (SISAN).
• 80,000 School Feeding Counselors (CAE), a supervisory, deliberative and advisory body. CAE is responsible for the social control of the PNAE, that is, for monitoring the acquisition of products, the quality of the food offered to students, the hygienic and sanitary conditions in which the food is stored, prepared and served, distribution and consumption, financial execution and the task of evaluating the accountability of state, Federal District and municipal education departments as well as federal schools and issuing a Conclusive Opinion. The CAEs are composed of 1 representative of the Executive Branch, 2 representatives of education workers and students’ organizations, 2 representatives of parents of students and 2 representatives of organized civil entities. To receive federal resources, the implementing entities (states, Federal District, municipalities and federal schools) must establish CAEs.

• 40 million students benefited by the PNAE – 100% of students enrolled in all stages and modalities of basic education in municipalities, states and the Federal District, including federal schools, philanthropic entities and religious schools maintained by non-profit entities (2024);
• 150,000 state and municipal schools attended, of which 3,586 are indigenous and 2,590 are quilombolas (2024);
• 77 federal institutions benefited (2024);
• 40 thousand family farmers benefited by the sale of products to the PNAE (2024);
• 8,000 nutritionists working on the PNAE with the implementing entities (state, Federal District and municipal education departments as well as federal schools) (2024);
• 50 million daily meals served (2024).

Annual budget of PNAE (2024): R$5.5 billion/ U$$ 976 millions (federal resources transferred to states, Federal District and municipalities on a supplementary basis) and to federal schools

• Out of this total, R$1.6 billion/U$$ 284 millions was allocated to purchases from family farming

To define the total amount to be transferred, FNDE multiplies the number of students enrolled in federal, state, municipal and Federal District schools, according to records from the School Census, carried out annually by the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira/Ministry of Education (INEP/MEC), to the number of 200 school days and the respective per capita values.

• Per capita values of PNAE (Resolution CD/FNDE No. 02, of March 10, 2023)
  • R$0.41 (forty-one cents of a Real) for students enrolled in Youth and Adult Education – EJA;
  • R$0.50 (fifty cents of a Real) for students enrolled in elementary and secondary education;
  • R$0.72 (seventy-two cents of a Real) for students enrolled in preschool, except for those enrolled in schools located in Indigenous areas and remnants of quilombos;
  • R$0.86 (eighty-six cents of a Real) for students enrolled in basic education schools located In indigenous areas and remnants of quilombos;
  • R$1.37 (one Real and thirty-seven cents of a Real) for students enrolled in full-time schools with a minimum stay of 7h (seven hours) at school or in school activities, according to the INEP School Census;
  • R$1.37 (one Real and thirty-seven cents of a Real) for students enrolled in daycare centers, including those located in Indigenous areas and remnants of quilombos;

• For students included in the Full-Time High School Support Program, there will be financial support totaling R$2.56 (two Reais and fifty-six cents) per capita;
• For students who attend after-school Specialized Educational Assistance, the per capita value will be R$0.68 (sixty-six cents of a Real);
• Regardless of the stage and type of education, if the student is in full-time classes, the per capita value considered is R$1.37.
• For part-time classes, regardless of the stage and type, the per capita value considered is R$0.86 in the case of students enrolled in schools located on Indigenous lands and remnants of quilombos, except for daycare centers, when the per capita value remains at R$1.37.

The PNAE has computerized systems that allow monitoring of the program’s implementation:

• National School Feeding Program Management System (SIGPNAE): gathers information related to the School Feeding Councils (CAEs) and the Nutritionists responsible for the implementation of the PNAE;
• Financial Management System (SIGEF): provides information on specific bank accounts opened by FNDE for the execution of the program;
• BB Ágil System: receives all PNAE financial statements, including information on the achievement of the minimum percentage of acquisition of products from family farming;
• School Food Management System (SIGAE): contains information on financial transfers made and the status of each Executive Entities (state, Federal District and municipal education departments as well as federal schools), including suspensions of transfers, installment discounts and expected amounts;
• “PNAE Monitora”: automates the “in loco” and virtual monitoring process that is carried out throughout the year by FNDE and CECANE teams, ensuring speed, standardization and increased monitoring capacity.

https://www.gov.br/fnde/pt-br/acesso-a-informacao/acoes-e-programas/programas/pnae