Brazil poverty and inequality. Where to next?

1
Brazil is the sixth largest economy in the world and is increasingly influential within Latin America and
Africa. As an emerging global and regional power, Brazil’s leadership can play a potentially determining
role in addressing the world´s equity and sustainability challenges. Recognizing the central role
of public policies to Brazil´s success in addressing poverty and inequality, and also considering
important limitations that are still observed, this paper summarizes the country’s recent experience
and introduces future challenges.
Brazil:
Poverty and
Inequality.
Where to Next?

2
Author: Pedro Telles
Pedro Telles holds a Master in Development
Studies and postgraduate degrees in Economics
and Political Science. He has worked with several
civil society organizations in Brazil and other
countries in Latin America, Africa, Asia and
Europe, and is a member of various collectives
and movements.
Editorial inputs: Nucleo-i
Pictures: Words and Pictures Oxfam
Gilvan Barreto / Tabitha Ross and Christian Aid
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© Oxfam International November 2013

1. INTRODUCTION
2. DEEPENING THE DEBATE ON INCOME, JOBS AND TAXATION
3. ADVANCES AND CHALLENGES IN BRAZIL’S HEALTH CARE.
4. THE DUAL CHALLENGE OF OUTREACH AND QUALITY IN PUBLIC EDUCATION.
5. PERFECTING THE CONSISTENT POLICIES FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY.
6. THE PERSISTENT CHALLENGES AROUND LAND DISTRIBUTION.
7. GOING A STEP FURTHER IN CITIZEN PARTICIPATION.
8. LESSONS AND NEXT STEPS ADDRESSING INEQUALITIES AND POVERTY IN BRAZIL
9. REFERENCES
5
6
10
13
15
17
19
20
23

5
1. Introduction
This paper brings a multidimensional analysis of poverty and inequality
in Brazil by presenting data for key indicators in recent years, exploring
the main policies that contributed to or hindered progress, and indicating
challenges and possible ways forward.
Despite very significant advancements in recent years, Brazil still
faces severe problems and urgent challenges. By looking at the real-
ity of income, jobs, taxation, health, education, land distribution,
food and nutrition, and citizen participation in the country, the analy-
sis presented here outlines areas where structural changes or spe-
cific policies are still needed, and also points to ways of perfecting
successful initiatives already in place.
This is important not only because Brazil still has a long way to go in
terms of poverty and inequality reduction, but also due to the country’s
growing influence in the international arena. Either by governmental
engagement in bilateralism and multilateralism, or by activities of private
actors supported (or not discouraged) by the government, Brazil’s devel-
opment model already has significant impacts on other countries, espe-
cially in Latin America and Africa.
Naturally, in one single paper it is not possible to explore all the fac-
tors examined here with the level of detail that they deserve. How-
ever, it is possible to present an overall picture, point to the most
significant trends, and indicate key areas of concern for those who
are willing to promote social justice – helping to draw comprehensive
frameworks for action.

6
2. Deepening the debate on income, jobs and taxation
Brazil has achieved notable progress in income poverty and inequality reduction over the last
decade. Between 2003 and 2012, poverty levels fell from 35.7% to 16.0%, extreme poverty lev-
els from 15.2% to 5.3%, and the Gini inequality index from 0.583 to 0.5301
. Importantly, poverty
and inequality are being reduced in all regions, races, and both rural and urban areas2
.
1
Ipea, n.d.
2
Between 2003 and 2009, poverty levels fell from 16.2% to 8.6% among white
people, from 37.6% to 20.3% among black and parda people, from 21.6% to
11.3% in urban areas, and from 50.4% to 31.9% in rural areas (IPEA et al., 2011).
Parda refers to racially mixed individuals who descend from white, black and/or
indigenous people at the same time. As poverty is measured at household level
without consideration of intra-household dynamics, the data available is not
appropriate for analysing poverty rates by gender.
3
Brazil’s extreme poverty line is defined based on the value of a food
basket with the minimum number of calories needed to adequately feed
a person, following recommendations by FAO and WHO. The poverty line is
twice the extreme poverty line. Values vary by region.
4
DIEESE, n.d. (value for January 2014)
5
WB, n.d.
However, there is still a long way to go. Poverty rates remain high despite the progress ob-
served, and it is crucial to keep in mind that Brazil’s national poverty line of R$140-250 (PPP
US$60-110) per month3
, although higher than the World Bank’s US$2/day, is in practice far
from the minimum income needed for an adult to adequately meet his or her basic needs –
estimated in R$916 (PPP US$400)4
. Furthermore, in 2009 the richest 10% held 42.9% of total
income while the poorest 40% held 10.0% – a small change from the 47.7% and 7.9% in 19955
.
Source: IPEA (n.d.)
Source: IPEA (n.d.)

7
Three main factors explain Brazil’s recent progress in terms of poverty and inequality reduc-
tion. The first are two successful cash transfer programmes, Bolsa Família (focused on people
living in poverty) and Benefício de Prestação Continuada (focused on the elderly and on people
with disabilities). Together, they were responsible for 17% of the fall in income inequality be-
tween 2001 and 20116
, and they were also followed by a significant expansion of the credit for
traditionally excluded sectors of the population. As these programmes reduce their exclusion
errors and get closer to reaching all possible beneficiaries, however, their contribution is likely
to reach limits in a few years.
A closer look at Bolsa Família
Reaching nearly 13 million people, Bolsa Família is the largest conditional cash transfer programme in
the world and has become an important source of income for the poor in Brazil, contributing to 16% of
the reduction in poverty, 33% of the reduction in extreme poverty, and 13% of the reduction in inequal-
ity over the last decade7
. Still, exclusion errors of above 30%8
affect especially the poorest and most
marginalized, and severe deficiencies are observed in the integration with and implementation of
complimentary programmes that help beneficiaries move sustainably away from poverty. Nevertheless,
the solid management structure of Bolsa Família, the fact that it costs only 0.39% of the GDP, and the
broad support it enjoys from the population and the international community indicate that it is possible
to invest more to address such limitations.
6
IPEA, 2012
7
IPEA, 2012; Soares and all, 2010
8
Souza et all, 2012
The second factor are contributory and non-contributory pensions, responsible for 19%
of the fall in income inequality between 2001 and 2011. In recent years, the minimum
values for pensions have been systematically readjusted with increases in the minimum
wage (to be explored in details below). At the same time, higher benefits received by
richer people have seen their purchasing power value decrease with inflation. For these
reasons, distances are being reduced. There is still room for improvement here – how-
ever, although important, pensions can hardly lead to deeper structural transformations.
The third and most relevant factor are changes in labour income, which represented 58% of
the fall in income inequality between 2001 and 2011. They were driven mostly by systematic
increases in the minimum wage, currently valued at R$678 (PPP US$292), and changes in the
regulations for microenterprises which allowed many entrepreneurs and informal workers
to enter the formal economy – besides a significant contribution of employment generation
through economic growth. There are clear signs that the government will keep using raises
in the minimum wage as a development tool in the years to come. However, when it comes to

8
Source: IPEA et al. (2011)
9
Parda is the race/skin colour category used by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) to classify racially mixed individuals who de-
scend from white, black and/or indigenous people at the same time.
10
IPEA et al., 2011
11
IPEA et al., 2011
12
IPEA, n.d
further improvements in laws, regulations and programmes to raise employment opportunities
for the poorest and address the needs of those in the informal economy, stronger efforts are
needed: the Ministry of Labour and Employment has traditionally focused on universal poli-
cies and on workers in formal employment, giving little attention to those in informality, to the
needs of minorities and to discriminatory practices.
Besides general trends and broad policies, it is also important to look at the effects of dis-
crimination in the labour market, which indicate a need for targeted efforts. In 2009, the pro-
portions of unemployed women (10.8%) and black and parda9
people (9.1%) were significantly
higher than that of men (6.0%) and white people (7.1%)10
– with the distances growing bigger
over the two last decades. When comparing income differences of workers with the same
level of education, it becomes clear that woman and black and parda people receive signifi-
cantly lower salaries, with reductions in disparities coming at a slow pace.
Importantly, the burden of unpaid work still relies heavily on women: in 2009, while 89.9% of
the women contribute to housework, only 49.9% of the men did so, with small changes from
the 91.5% and 46.6% in 200311
. Still, women’s share in total household income went from
37.9% in 1995 to 44.8% in 2009. Dedicating more time to work out of home, women are pres-
sured towards the flexibility of the informal economy to be able to cope with their domestic
burden. The result is that, in 2008, 42.1% of the female working population was in precarious
jobs, against 26.2% of the male working population – a large difference, although there have
improvements since 1998 when the numbers were 48.3% and 31.2%12
.

9
13
WB, 2004
14
IPEA, 2009
15
OECD, 2013
Finally, over the last decades there have been few substantial policies for local development
that prioritise regions and municipalities which are lagging behind, and that reach a scale
which is big enough to drive structural change. Investments in infrastructure, lending by the
Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), and investments by federal public enterprises and are
still highly concentrated in the South, Southeast and in big cities, which already have the
strongest economies. To mention one example, 65% of the resources of Brazil’s Growth Ac-
celeration Program, a central initiative by the federal government to develop the country’s
economy, were allocated to the South and the Southeast.15
A strategy that prioritises the poorest areas is needed, and it could make use of measures
that have already shown promising results in the past: strengthening the existent regional
funds, amplifying subsidised credit, training public servers, supporting small and medium-size
business (with a special attention to initiatives dedicated to the popular economy), and using
nationally coordinated fiscal incentives.
Overall, it is evident that efforts to tackle gender and race inequalities in labour are still very
limited. Much more could be done through programmes for economic empowerment, quotas
in the labour market, stronger mechanisms for monitoring and addressing discrimination, and
initiatives to reduce the burden of unpaid work.
Brazil also needs to implement a much delayed structural reform in its taxation system, which
has been crucial for poverty and inequality reduction in many countries. The World Bank es-
timates that indirect taxation in Brazil is three times higher than direct taxation, making the
system impressively regressive13
. In 2008, the tax burden over those who earned more than
30 minimum wages a month amounted to 29.0% of the family income, against 53.9% for those
who receive less than two minimum wages – an even bigger distance than the 26.3% and
48.8% observed in 200414
. The poor face clear and severe injustices when it comes to taxa-
tion, and no significant sign of change has been observed since the re-democratisation of
the country in late 1980’s.
Source: IPEA (2009)

10
3. Advances and challenges in Brazil’s health care
Brazil also observed significant advancements in health in recent years, building on the uni-
versalization of free public health services through the Unified Health System (SUS) – which al-
ready reaches 95% of the country’s municipalities and is the only source of medical attention
for three quarters of the population16
. Between 1995 and 2010, life expectancy went from 68.5
to 73.4 years and the under-five mortality rate fell from 41.4 to 18.6 per thousand live births17
.
Public spending on health grew progressively from 2.86% of the GDP in 1995 to 4.07% in 2011
(with an acceleration being observed from 2003 onwards). Furthermore, regional, gender and
race inequalities have all been decreasing, although distances are still significant18
.
Three factors can be highlighted as key for the successes achieved in the last decade. The
first is the Family Health Programme of the SUS, the core strategy for expansion and improve-
ment of healthcare in the poorest and most marginalised areas. Its main components are a
wide network of Basic Health Units, and Family Health Teams that supervise an average of
three to four thousand people each providing healthcare both at people’s houses and at the
health units. Since 2004, additional resources have been allocated by the federal government
to accelerate the expansion of the outreach of the public health system in municipalities ‘with
less than 50,000 inhabitants in the Amazon, or less than 30,000 inhabitants and with a Human
Development Index of below 0.7 in other regions of the country19
.
16
Jakob et al., 2012
17
MS, n.d.
18
Between 1995 and 2009, life expectancy increased from 64.7 to 69.7 years among men and from 72.5 to 77.3 years among women (MS, n.d.). With
regards to racial inequalities, limited data is available, but between 1991 and 2000 life expectancy increased from 66.5 to 71.0 years among white people
and from 58.7 to 65.7 years among black and parda people (Paixão et al., 2005)
19
OECD, 2013, p. 133

11
In addition to the Family Health Programme, a second factor that contributed much to the
progress of health in Brazil are policies to guarantee access to medicines – more specifically,
the law that authorizes the production of generic drugs and the Popular Pharmacy Programme
through which the government subsidizes up to 100% of the value of selected medications.
A third key factor are the municipal, regional and national health councils of the SUS, whose
characteristics owe much to the participation of social movements and NGOs in National
Health Conferences that happened in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. These permanent,
deliberative councils are responsible for the oversight of the public health system, giving a
voice to groups who have traditionally been marginalised, and their strength derives much
from their veto power over the activities of health secretariats: 60% of the health budget for
states and municipalities come from the federal government, and in case a council rejects
the plan and budget that must be presented yearly by each secretariat, the Health Ministry
does not transfer funds.
Nevertheless, severe problems related to health remain in Brazil.
The overall quality of the public health services is seen as notably poor by most research-
ers, medical professionals and social movements – although it is interesting to notice that
over 85% of the users see it as good or very good20
, a paradox that deserves to be better
explored in future research. There have been persistent inequalities in access to public
health services, with black and parda people, women, inhabitants of poorer regions, and
those who have low levels of income being denied medical attention more often than others
(although in all groups 92% or more of those who look for medical attention receive since
the first measurement in 199821
).
Regional inequalities are also observed, with a notably higher proportion of health pro-
fessionals in the South, Southeast and in big metropolitan centres as these localities
offer much better infrastructure, opportunities of residency programmes, and overall
conditions of employment.
Furthermore, there is a knowledge gap on the forms, causes and consequences of inequal-
ity in the public health system (that the Ministry of Health just started addressing), and there
are no simple and efficient mechanisms for citizens to report discrimination. A few initiatives
aimed at increasing the quality of services for women and black and parda people have start-
ed being implemented, but are still very limited.
The important health councils face several limitations, specially related to biased selective
process for councillors that favour those involved with the system since its creation, manipu-
lation by local politicians in places where civil society is not strongly mobilised, a lack of train-
ing in participatory methodologies for both public officials and councillors, and limited funding
for travel, capacity-building and secretarial support.
20
IPEA et al., 2011
21
IPEA et al., 2011

12
Lasting deficiencies and inequalities in the access to sanitation pose serious challenges to
public health efforts. In urban areas, 31.6% of the households did not have access to ad-
equate sanitation in 2009, with little improvements from the 38.8% in 1995. Critically, looking
only at those below the poverty line the number jumps to 56.7% in 2009, with black and parda
poor people being in worse situation than white poor people: 58.7% versus 51.7%22
. This indi-
cates that areas with elevated numbers of black and parda people receive a worse provision
of public services regardless of income – a worrying fact that is supported by data related to
education, to be explored below.
And finally, an important debate around the risks of privatisation of the SUS must be men-
tioned. The government relies more and more on outsourcing and public-private partner-
ships without an adequate public debate or enough transparency. At the same time, sub-
sidies offered to private actors through tax waivers have corresponded to around 20-30%
of federal government expenditures on health since 2003 (with almost half of this going
straight to private health plans, which in most cases are used by richer people23
). In this
context, health councillors and civil society manifest increasing concerns, demanding more
participatory and balanced processes as well as guarantees that all citizens will have ac-
cess to adequate public health care.
22
IPEA et al., 2011
23
IPEA, 2013

13
4. The dual challenge of outreach and quality in public education
School enrolment and average years of study in Brazil have been increasing at a significant
pace in recent years, following the universalization of the public basic education system in
1996 (which currently hosts around 80% of the students24
). Between 1995 and 2009, the share
of population in primary school went from 85.5% to 95.4%, in secondary school from 22.0%
to 50.9%, and in higher education from 5.8% to 14.4%. In the same period, the average years
of study of a Brazilian rose from 5.5 years to 7.5 years25
. Numbers for all regions, races, and
genders have been improving steadily, with significant reductions in inequalities (following a
Latin American trend, for decades girls have shown better indicators than boys26
) . Importantly,
improvements in education are already modifying the earning gaps between different educa-
tional levels, reducing inequalities27
.
The National Education Plan (PNE) created in 2001 was an important step towards such
achievements, putting the reduction of inequalities as a central objective – and the engage-
ment of civil society with National Conferences on Education was crucial in its creation.
However, the very limited formal mechanisms for accountability between different levels of
government and the little autonomy and deliberative power given to multistakeholder councils
bring serious limitations to possible achievements.
Another important factor to be highlighted is the Fund for Maintenance and Development of
Basic Education and Valorisation of Education Professionals, which exists to guarantee a
minimum level of per capita investment for students in primary education and also provide
support (bounded to performance goals) to municipalities with the lowest levels of education.
The positive impact caused by Brazil’s Basic Education Development Index (IDEB), created
in 1995 and more and more used as a critical tool for governmental planning at all levels,
also deserves attention. It is now seen as one of the best indexes in the world for the
monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of education systems, making a strong case for better
M&E in other areas where it is still weak. And the fact that it originated in league tables
that stimulate politicians from the worst performing states and municipalities to do bet-
ter is interesting to observe – although it is important to make sure that the criteria for
comparison is not unfairly favourable to those who start from better educational and
general socio-economic conditions.
24
FENEP and FGV, 2005
25
IPEA et al., 2011
26
Between 1995 and 2009, the share of men in primary school went from 84.3% to 95.3%, of women from 86.7% to 95.4%, of white people from 90.2% to
95.7%, and of black and parda people from 80.8% to 95.1%. The numbers are notably lower when it comes to secondary school: men’s enrolment rate
went from 18.4% to 45.2%, women’s from 25.8% to 56.7%, white people’s from 32.1% to 60.3%, and black and parda people’s from 12.0% to 43.5%. With
regards to average years of study, between 1995 and 2009 it went from 5.4 to 7.4 years among men, from 5.6 to 7.7 years among women, from 6.4 to 8.4
years among white people, from 4.3 to 6.7 years among black and parda people, from 6.1 to 8.0 years in urban areas, and from 2.9 to 4.8 years in rural
areas (IPEA at el., 2011).
27
Lopez-Calva, 2012

14
28
IPEA et al., 2011
29
In 2009, the average years of study among white people in poverty was 5.6 years, while among black and parda people in poverty it was 5.0 years – up
from 3.6 and 3.0 years in 1995, respectively (IPEA at el., 2011).
30
TPE, n.d.
31
By 2011, at the end of primary school 27.0% of students had adequate knowledge of Portuguese and 16.9% had adequate knowledge of Mathematics (TPE, n.d.)
Furthermore, as observed in health, programmes to alleviate poor families’ expenses directly
and indirectly related to education have made a difference and can be expanded. Some key
examples here are the National Textbook Programme (PNLD), the School Transportation Sup-
port Programme (PNATE), the National School Food Programme (PNAE) and Bolsa Família.
However, despite recent improvements and positive trends, there are strong arguments to say
that education in Brazil is still far from what can be considered good, and inequalities remain
high. In 2009, while an average white woman from the Southeast studied for 8.8 years (barely
completing primary education), a black man from the Northeast studied for 5.9 years28
. The
differences between urban and rural areas remain striking, and clearly haven’t been dealt with
as a priority in recent decades. Racial inequalities are explained not only by the fact that more
black and parda people are poor, as even among people in poverty the white have advantag-
es29
– indicating that areas with elevated numbers of black and parda people receive a worse
provision of public services, as it has already been seen above in the debate around health.
There is a lack of research and limited action on targeted policies that could reduce racial and
gender inequalities in education (a notable exception are the arguably successful but still po-
lemic quotas for black and parda people and former students of public schools to enter public
universities), and no structured mechanisms for students to report discrimination or receive
psychological support when affected by it.
Finally, two critical issues in Brazil are the quality of education and the employment condi-
tions of teachers. The process of universalising access to public education was initially
more focused on the quantity of students reached than on the quality of what was being
taught, with insufficient funds and management to provide adequate infrastructure and
good working conditions for teachers and other school professionals. The result was a
strong negative impact in the already low number of students with adequate knowledge for
their grade: in 1995, at the end of primary school 37.5% of students had adequate knowl-
edge of Portuguese and 16.8% had adequate knowledge of Mathematics – by 2003, these
numbers had fallen to 20.1% and 14.7%30
.
Since 2005 a relevant increase on investments in education has been observed, going from
4.0% of the GDP in 2005 to 5.8% of the GDP in 2009, and a recovery in quality indicators has
been following this trend31
. However, this is still far from the 7% of GDP promised by the gov-
ernment since 2001 and the 10% demanded by the National Campaign for the Right to Edu-
cation. At the same time, law No.11738 from 2008 which guarantees annual readjustments
in teachers’ salary, as well as other promises of salary increases at the state and municipal
levels, have not led to real changes in many parts of the country. Not surprisingly, profession-
als of the public education system have organised numerous strikes and protests over the
last years, and are likely to continue doing so in case conditions do not improve substantially.

15
5. Perfecting the consistent policies for food and nutrition security
Brazil achieved relevant advancements in fighting hunger and undernutrition over the last
decade, but different ways of measuring progress lead to significantly different diagnoses.
Using the methodologies adopted by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) framework, focused on the number of calories
consumed and on the weight of children, one could say that Brazil is close to eliminating the
problem: the prevalence of undernourishment went from 13.5% of the population in 1995 to
6.9% in 2011, with the average depth of food deficit falling from 90 to 58kcal/day32
; and the
number of underweight children between 0-4 years of age went from 4.2% in 1996 to 1.8%
in 2006, already below the 2.3% safety margin33,34
. However, using the methodology adopted
by the Brazilian government, based on psychometric scales for measuring families’ access
to food, in 2009 13.2% of the population still faced moderate or severe food insecurity, down
from 19.5% in 200435
– affecting much more black, parda and indigenous people than white
people, but with no considerable difference between genders.
In Brazil, food insecurity is deeply associated with poverty – it is not a result of unavailabil-
ity of food, but of lack of resources to acquire it. Not surprisingly, the factor that contributed
the most for the reduction of the problem over the last decade was the Bolsa Família (Family
Grant) cash transfer programme, and data from Ibase (2008) indicates that 87% of the benefi-
ciaries spend most of the money received on food.
32
WB, n.d.
33
IPEA, 2010
34
If one considers only the North region, underweight children still represent 3.2% of the total; if one considers only the families in the bottom income
quintile, the proportion is still 3.7%.
35
IBGE, 2010b. Moderate food insecurity is defined by situations when adults in a household face quantitative restriction of food. Moderate food inse-
curity is defined by situations when both adults and children in a household face quantitative restriction of food, and/or when people in the household
face hunger (spending a whole day without eating for lack of resources to acquire food).

16
36
IBGE, 2004; IBGE, 2010a
37
It is worth mentioning that Brazil is one of the few countries to count on a national policy for agroecology and organic food, presented in the
National Plan of Agroecology and Organic Production (Planapo), which was launched in 2013.
Bolsa Família was created in 2003 as a part of the Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) strategy, imple-
mented by former President Lula in the beginning of his first term, which for the first time put
the elimination of hunger as a top priority for the federal government. Other key policies re-
lated to food and nutrition that can be highlighted are:
• National School Feeding Programme (PNAE), whose budget increased 130% under Lula;
• Food Acquisition Programme (PAA), already introduced above;
• A network of popular restaurants, community kitchens and food banks managed in partner-
ship with state and municipal governments;
• Nutritional supplementation programmes created in 2005 that provide ferrous sulphate and
vitamin A to children and pregnant women;
• Worker’s Food Programme, in place since 1976 to provide support for low-income workers
in partnership with their employers.
It is important to mention that food and nutrition security became a right in Brazil in 2006,
through the Lei Orgânica de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (LOSAN), which established the
National System for Food and Nutrition Security (SISAN). In 2010, it was enshrined in the Con-
stitution. In addition to the President’s commitment, this was in great part a result of mobi-
lization and demands from civil society, organised around the National Council for Food and
Nutrition Security (CONSEA), the Brazilian Forum for Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Secu-
rity (FBSSAN), and National Conferences on Food and Nutrition Security.
Looking at the initiatives already in place to fight hunger and undernutrition in Brazil, it is pos-
sible to say that the challenge is more related to perfecting existing policies than developing
new ones. There is a solid legal and institutional framework in place, besides coherent poli-
cies capable of adequately dealing with the problem if well executed – although, up until now,
the programmes in place have not yet been able to alleviate food insecurity among all vulner-
able groups in the country, especially those living in remote communities. Furthermore, it is
important to reinforce a more humane, holistic and politicised approach to hunger and nutri-
tion, going beyond the merely technical approach that traditional indicators based on calories
consumed and expected weight can lead to.
Finally, it is crucial to highlight that, while hunger and undernutrition are already being tackled
in Brazil, malnutrition is an emerging problem that has not been properly addressed yet. The
number of overweight and obese people has been rising constantly in recent years. In 2009,
49.0% of the adult population was overweight and 14.8% were obese, with the numbers being
33.4% and 14.2% for children between 5-9 years of age36
. This is a result of increasing con-
sumption of industrialised food with high levels of sugar, fat and calories, and the problem is
affecting both rich and poor people. In this context, nutritional education and policies that
promote better food habits seem crucial – and can be directly related to efforts to promote
family agriculture, food security, agroecology, and organic food37
.

17
6. The persistent challenges around land distribution
Land distribution is an issue where virtually no progress has been achieved during the last
decade – on the contrary, the scenario has become increasingly less favourable. Brazil has
one of the highest levels of land concentration in the world: in 2006, large properties with over
1,000 hectares were 0.9% of all properties but held 45.0% of the agriculture area, while small
properties with less than 10 hectares were 47.9% of all properties but held 2.3%, composing a
Gini index of 0.85838
– with no significant change being observed in recent decades. Further-
more, a reduction in the pace of establishment of settlements for landless people has been
observed since President Lula’s administration, frustrating peasant movements.
The problem has its historical roots in the colonial period, when only a white elite was allowed
ownership of land. Contrary to what happened in many developed and developing nations,
no significant land reform was ever implemented in Brazil, and large landowners have always
maintained strong economic and political power.
Issues around land concentration are directly related to the development model adopted
for the country, although not limited to it. In recent years, it has become clear that the gov-
ernment made a choice in favour of a model based on mechanised monoculture of a few
export-oriented commodities. This pleases large landowners and their allies, who have strong
influence over political parties (to whom they donate large amounts of money) and the gov-
ernment; it pleases multinational companies who sell to and buy from these people; and it is a
convenient way for the government to achieve surplus in the trade balance based on primary
products, without investing in deeper economic transformations.
38
IBGE, 2006; IBGE, 2012

18
39
MDA, 2012
40
França et al., 2009
41
MST, 2011
42
Although 30% of the municipalities have only 3-5 thousand inhabitants, with most of the inhabitants still relying mostly on agriculture.
43
The PAA is a programme through which the government buys food produced by family agriculture and distributes it to people facing vulnerability, in
partnership with CSOs.
44
Conditional cash transfer programme targeted at families in poverty who develop activities for the sustainable use of natural resources in rural areas
45
IPC-IG, 2013
Evidently, the social and environmental consequences of such focus on big agribusiness are
severe. It is not the best option to promote food security, as a small variety of crops is pro-
duced and the focus is on exports – currently, family agriculture produces 70% of food for
domestic consumption in only 30% of the country’s total farmland39
. It does not contribute as
much as possible to employment generation, as family agriculture concentrates 78.8% of la-
bour40
. It leads to soil depletion due to monoculture and the intensive use of pesticides, which
are also harmful to people’s health – for years Brazil has been the leading country in terms
of pesticide use. The high dependency on a few export-oriented commodities increases the
vulnerability of country’s economy to external shocks. Furthermore, proposals and pressure
from the powerful rural caucus in the Congress, which servers the interest of big agribusiness,
have already led to a historic change in Brazil’s Forest Code in 2012 that made the law much
more permissive to deforestation (which is a leading source of CO2 emissions in the country),
and this was just part of a broader strategy to weaken socio-environmental regulations – now
focusing on rural labour rights and land rights of indigenous people.
Given the current balance of power, land redistribution in Brazil remains a big challenge despite
the existence of nearly 70 thousand large properties (totalling over 130 million hectares) that
are not productive and therefore legally subject to expropriation41
. While big agribusiness and its
rural caucus hold great influence, the voting power of peasants who would immediately benefit
from such reform is not so strong as 85% of Brazil’s population live in cities42
, and many peas-
ants facing poverty have seen their situation improve in recent years with the rise of social pro-
tection programmes such as Bolsa Família and employment opportunities in civil construction.
Although it is important to keep pushing for redistribution, which must be followed by comple-
mentary policies that adequately support beneficiaries and allow them to become productive
in new rural settlements, there are more spaces for action.
It is necessary to increase support to smallholders and family agriculture through structural im-
provements in financial mechanisms, measures to facilitate access to market and commerciali-
zation, policies to encourage cooperatives, and an expansion of state-driven structural demand
policies such as the Food Acquisition Programme (PAA)43
, the Bolsa Verde (Green Grant)44
, and
law no. 11947/2009 which stipulates that 30% of school meals must bought directly from family
farmers. Significant efforts in this direction have been observed in recent years, benefiting hun-
dreds of thousands45
– an important initiative that must be mentioned is the National Program
for the Strengthening of Family Agriculture (Pronaf), created in 1996, which currently provides
over R$20 billion (US$9 billion) in subsidized credit to family farmers every year. Nevertheless,
much more can be achieved as a vast majority does not yet receive adequate support.

7. Going a step further in citizen participation
Over the two last decades Brazil has become a reference in terms of mechanisms for par-
ticipatory democracy, with multiple forums that include citizens and civil society organi-
sations in policy-making processes. Some of the most well-known initiatives are multi-
stakeholder councils that advise several ministries and secretaries, national conferences
that help define governmental priorities in a series of issues, and successful participatory
budgeting experiences.
Efforts to listen to people’s voices and give them space to shape the government’s agenda
have opened space for important contributions to policies and programmes related to poverty
and inequality reduction, becoming a key feature of Brazil’s democracy. However, innovations
in citizen participation have stagnated in recent years, and limitations of the current model
are increasingly evident.
It is also crucial to invest more in the development of technologies and infrastructure for small-
holders, and in research focused on family agriculture (currently only 4% of the budget for the
state-owned Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research is dedicated to it46
). Capacity-building
and technical assistance programmes can help peasants develop their skills. Furthermore,
campaigns around the universal benefits of more sustainable agroecological methods and or-
ganic food, combined with supportive policies, can help increase interest and demand.
There is a need for reforms in the main governmental bodies that focus on land and ag-
riculture issues, to strengthen their capacity to promote land reform and support family
agriculture. This must be followed by an expansion of the R$100 thousand limit for expro-
priation of a land property, which is too little for the redistribution needed, and adjust-
ments in the productivity index used to define which properties are subject to expropria-
tion, that has not been updated since 1975.
Finally, following a global trend, land grabs are an issue that has not received the attention it
deserves yet and must be properly addressed. The volume of land being bought by big trans-
national and domestic players has increased at an impressive pace in recent years, raising
risks associated with speculation, privatisation of natural resources and impacts on local
communities. This is added to historic problems related to land grabs through the forgery of
documents and private appropriation of public lands. Furthermore, Brazilian companies (espe-
cially those working on agriculture and infrastructure, many times supported by the govern-
ment) are being increasingly accused of land grabs and other forms of abuse and violation of
rights in several other countries, especially in Africa and Latin America – seriously putting into
question which type of leadership the country intends to assume as a rising power in interna-
tional development.
19
46
SINPAF, 2013

20
On the one hand, existing spaces for participation show persistent deficiencies. Very restrict-
ed deliberative power is given to civil society, with citizens rarely taking part in final decision
making (an important exception here comes from the health councils, who can block funding
from the federal government in case they disagree with budgets proposed by municipal and
state secretaries). In some cases, political parties, trade unions, long-standing social move-
ments and other established institutions play a mediation role that inhibits the entry of new
participants – although actors who belong to these same groups are many times important
advocates for the expansion of citizen participation. Change based on ideas and suggestions
raised by citizens often takes a long time to happen, or does not happen at all, leading to
frustration with participatory processes. And, in many cases, there is a lack of financial sup-
port and adequate structure to make participation viable – especially for the poorest.
On the other hand, there are areas where new ground must be broken. The government has
never been truly open to discussing structural economic matters, reforms in the political
system or issues related to infrastructure, which are evidently critical. A reform of the legal
framework that regulates the activities of civil society organisations is highly needed, and for
years has been advocated by many mobilised around the projeto de lei (bill) no. 649/2011. Fur-
thermore, greater institutionalisation of mechanisms for participation and direct democracy
is a strong demand of hundreds of NGOs and movements connected to the Platform for the
Reform of the Political System.
The recent surge of protests across Brazil showed how, despite a notable progress in several
social and economic issues, there are still high levels of dissatisfaction among the popula-
tion. An immediate reaction from conservative sectors has been to push for the criminalization
of social movements, looking to stifle protests via restrictions to the rights to freedom of as-
sociation and expression. However, what can really help the country keep moving forward are
efforts to deepen the Brazilian democracy, guaranteeing that the people are better heard and
that effective measures are taken to address their concerns.

21
8. Lessons and next steps addressing inequalities and poverty in Brazil
Two key lessons can be drawn from this multidimensional analysis of poverty and inequality in Brazil.
First, important policies and programmes implemented in Brazil that achieved global visibility
and became world-famous case studies in recent years, such as the Bolsa Família cash trans-
fer programme and the universalization of the public health system through the Sistema Único
de Saúde (SUS), are only a fraction of what has led to the solid progress observed in several
social and economic issues.
They are based on strong legal and institutional frameworks which include several mecha-
nisms aimed at the promotion of social justice, and exist side by side with many other initia-
tives that may have not gained international recognition but have nevertheless been crucial.
Importantly, economic growth, although relevant, was not the main cause of poverty reduction
in the country over the last decade, being less significant than redistributive policies. Brazil’s
achievements are, if anything, evidence that there are no silver bullets in development, and
that structural change requires comprehensive and multi-layered approaches.
The second lesson is that, although Brazil has progressed much especially over the last
decade, policies and programmes in place will not be enough to truly eradicate poverty or
lead to new leaps towards inequality reduction. Several crucial issues are not being covered
yet, and many of the initiatives already implemented have significant imperfections or may
reach limits soon.
Changes in five main areas are needed.
First, Brazil needs to implement much-delayed structural reforms in taxation and land dis-
tribution, which have been crucial in many other countries. The severely regressive taxation
system and the high levels of land concentration, historic characteristics of the country, are
key perpetuators of poverty and inequality.
Second, there is a clear need for perfecting existing policies and developing new ones which
focus on the needs of discriminated groups. The analysis presented here highlighted several
limitations that exist when it comes to understanding and responding to the particular needs
of women and black and parda people in employment, education and health – and such limi-
tations do not relate only to these groups, nor only to these subjects, also being observed in
areas not explored in this paper.
Third, it is necessary to give more attention to policies for local development that priori-
tise regions and municipalities which are lagging behind, which have long been a weak

spot in Brazil’s development process. They must follow the continued expansion of ac-
cess to basic services, which is already happening, but in many cases is still not satis-
factory – especially in rural areas.
Fourth, it is time Brazil focuses more on the quality of its social policies, and not only on out-
reach. Important initiatives in specific areas such as education and support to family agricul-
ture already exist, but much more can be done. Efforts to include more citizens remain neces-
sary, but a quality leap will be crucial to drive deeper changes. To get there, a more detailed
collection of data and deeper analyses of qualitative issues will be important steps.
Finally, a fifth area where changes are needed – which is crucial for progress in all other areas
– is that of citizen participation. Brazil is surely ahead of most developing countries when it
comes to mechanisms for participatory democracy, but functional limitations of the meas-
ures already in place and barriers to the expansion of the legal and institutional frameworks
for participation are key challenges to be addressed in order to keep developing policies truly
aimed at benefitting the poorest and most marginalised.
22

23
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