In Rome, Lula argues poor people should be included in budget
On Monday (Oct. 13), during the opening of the World Food Forum in Rome, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva argued that the poor should be included in their countries’ budgets. “I’m not talking about empty handout policies,” he assured.
“We need to include the poor in the budget and turn this goal into a state policy, to prevent progress from being at the mercy of crises or political tides. Even leaders of countries with small budgets can and must make this choice,” he declared.
In his speech, President Lula mentioned the announcement made by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that Brazil had once again been removed from the hunger map.
“Thirty million people began to eat lunch, dinner, and breakfast. In 2024, we achieved the lowest proportion of households in a situation of severe food insecurity in our history,” he said.
The president also noted that Brazil recorded, in the same time range, the lowest proportion of households with children under five facing severe food insecurity since 2024. “We are breaking the cycle of exclusion,” he stated.
“A sovereign country is a country capable of feeding its people. Hunger is the enemy of democracy and the full exercise of citizenship. We can overcome it through government action, but governments can only act if they have the means,” said President Lula.
To this end, he said, expanding development financing, reducing borrowing costs, improving tax systems, and alleviating the debts of poorer countries are crucial measures.
“It is not enough to produce. We must distribute. Few initiatives would contribute as much to food security as a reform of the international financial architecture, which would direct resources to those who need them most,” he went on to argue.
In his address, Lula pointed out that Latin America and the Caribbean live the paradox of being the breadbasket of the world while coexisting with hunger. Africa, he said, is experiencing economic growth and a worrying increase in food insecurity levels.
