1090The Brazilian farm-to-school regulatory policy: local governance correlates

Abstract

Abstract Background We explored whether local governance tools related to participatory democracy were associated with a better implementation of a farm-to-school regulation, which states that 30% of procured foods for the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (BNSFP) must come from family farming. Methods Longitudinal study with data on federal transfers to all Brazilian municipalities (n = 5.570) for the BNSFP from 2011 to 2017. The outcome was the percentage of those transfers used to procure foods from family farming. Participatory democracy measures included the presence of sectoral school feeding program councils and adherence to the National Food and Nutrition Security System (NFNS). Models were adjusted for total federal transfers to support family farming; the importance of federal transfers to the local economy; changes in land coverage devoted to family farming; municipal gross domestic product, and population size. We employed year and municipality fixed-effect linear models with clustered standard errors at the state level. Results Procurement from family farming rose from 16.5% [95%CI 16.0,17.0] in 2011 to 32.2% [95%CI 31.0, 33.5] in 2017. The presence of local sectoral school feeding program councils and local adherence to the NFNS were associated with a greater increase in the percentage of foods procured from family farming. Conclusions Local participatory democracy was associated with a better implementation of the farm-to-school regulation in Brazil. Key message Local participatory democracy measures influenced the implementation of the Brazilian national farm-to-school regulation. Our findings can help inform similar policies in other countries.