The program is co-ordinated by the Ministry of Social Development and Hunger Combat and was intended to put into action the government's strategy to guarantee the right of access to basic food. The program takes a number of forms, ranging from direct financial aid to the poorest families to diverse strategies such as creating water cisterns in Brazil's semi-arid areas, creating low-cost restaurants, educating people about healthy eating habits, distributing vitamins and iron supplements, supporting subsistence family farming and giving access to microcredit. Fome Zero is thought to be the biggest initiative to date by a Brazilian government to combat hunger in the history of the country, and builds on similar assistance programs implemented by previous governments.
Effects
The program is believed to have contributed to Brazil's recent reported improvements in its fight against poverty, according to research promoted by some universities and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. An ex anteeconometric evaluation of Bolsa Escola did find significant effects on both school attendance rates and the number of children involved in child labor. The World Bank, which created on June 2005 a Bolsa Família Project to assist the Brazilian government in managing the Bolsa Família Program, declared that "Although the program is relatively young, some results are already apparent, including: contributions to improved education outcomes, and impacts on children’s growth, food consumption, and diet quality". A study by the UNDP Poverty Centre found that over 80% of the Bolsa Familia benefits went to families in poverty, thus most of the benefits were going to the poor. BF was also claimed to have been responsible for about 20% of the drop in inequality in Brazil since 2001, which is welcome in one of the most unequal countries on the planet. Research promoted by the World Bank showed a significant reduction in child labor exploitation among children benefited by the Bolsa Família program. The program has also been reported to have made a significant impact on the ability of the poorest families to eat. Children in public school receive one free meal a day—two in the poorest areas—and so less of their family's limited income is needed to pay for food. In a survey of Bolsa Familia recipients, 82.4% reported eating better; additionally, it was reported to increase the incomes of the poorer families by about 25%.
Criticism
In 2003, David de Ferranti, the World Bank IBRD representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, criticized the program, due to its lack of clear focus, saying the program did not combat the country's poverty and income inequality. He also criticised the mechanisms for money donation and food gathering and distribution. Fome Zero is considered by the opposition as a failure, due to what they believe is the government's inability to manage the program effectively. Murilo Zauith, a PFL federal deputy, in March 2005, said the program was faulty, citing as an example the death of several indigenous children due to malnutrition in the city of Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul. However, Humberto Costa, the Minister of Health at the time, considered the death count average and not alarming. Another criticism is that the program turned mostly in a money-transfer program, subject to corruption, and did not completely solve the problem. Data from 2014-2015 showed that malnutrition is still a problem in Brazil and responsible by 4.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year, linked to the fact that 3.8% of the population still earns less than US$1 a day.
