Emergence and evolution of the National Policy for Food and Nutrition Security in Brazil (2003-2015)

Abstract

The article presents an overall analysis of the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy, its conceptions and central concepts, in a context of significant advances in the making and implementation of policies and the creation of an institutional framework for the promotion of food and nutrition security (SAN), in the period 2003-2015. It addresses the interaction between the formulation and implementation of the SAN National Policy (PNSAN), the construction of the National SAN System (Sisan) and the strategies used to promote intersectionality and social participation in government actions. The theoretical framework brings together approaches on food politics and analyses of public policies in order to identify the political nature of food and the conflicts it expresses, the social actors, interests and institutions involved, aspects of the construction of SAN as a public problem and its incorporation into the Brazilian political agenda, and the making and implementation of public policies. The main conclusions regarding the continuities and discontinuities in SAN policies in Brazil point to a significant inflection in the orientation of policies to overcome hunger, food insecurity and poverty, simultaneously with the continuity of conflicting and even contradictory programs and actions.