In 65.2% of the 51,8 million private Brazilian households there was food security.  Among the 18 million with food insecurity, 3, 4 million were classified as being under serious conditions of food insecurity - 1. 6 million of these households were in the Northeast Region.  Of the 14 million persons living in households with a serious level of food insecurity, almost 6 million were members of households with monthly income per capita of at most R$ 65 per person.  In all the regions, the occurrence of food insecurity was higher in the households with persons under 18 years of age.

 

IBGE presents results of the Supplementary Edition of PNAD 2004 about Food Security [1], carried out in partnership with the Ministry of Social Development and Combat to Hunger - MDS.  This survey, which has produced, for the first time, data about the household conditions in terms of food security, at national level, used the Brazilian Scale of Food Insecurity – EBIA in order to classify the households into four categories of food security levels: food security (SA), low food insecurity (low IA), moderate food insecurity (moderate IA) and serious food insecurity (serious IA).

In 65.2% of the 52 million private households in which there was food security, lived 109 million persons, whereas in the other 34.8% (in which lived 72 million persons) a situation of food insecurity was detected (low, moderate or serious). Moderate or serious food insecurity, which means limited access to proper amount of food (with or without famine experience) occurred in 18.8% of the households, in which lived 39.5 million persons.

The occurrence of moderate or serious food insecurity was higher in households of the rural areas than in those of the urban areas.  While in the urban area 11.4% and 6% of households had respectively, moderate and serious food insecurity, in the rural area these percentages were 17.0% and 9.0%.

Highest occurrence of food insecurity in the Northeast and North Regions

 

The comparison of the occurrence of food security and serious food insecurity confirm the unevenness among the five Brazilian regions.  In the South of Brazil, 76.5% (6 278 100) of the households had guaranteed their access to food, in terms of both quantity and quality while this situation was different in the Southeast, 72.9% (16 898 223) and in the Central West, 68.8% (2 583 881). In the North and in the Northeast, this occurred in approximately 53.6% (1 912 721) and 46.4% (6 081 281), respectively of the households.

 

Whereas serious food insecurity occurred in 3.5% of the households in the South Region (286 252), in the Northeast it affected 12.4% (1 630 138) of the households. The occurrence of serious food insecurity in the North and in the Northeast was 3.1 and 3.5 times higher than in the households located in the South. Of almost 14 million persons living in Brazilian households in serious food insecurity conditions, in the period of reference of the survey, about 7 million, that is, 52% lived in the Northeast, a region concentrating only 28% of the Brazilian population.

In the North Region, serious food insecurity conditions ranged from 3.9% in Rondônia to 15.8% in Roraima, with intermediate values in Tocantins (7.9%) and Amazonas (9.4%). In the Northeast, the occurrence of highest serious food insecurity was found in the households of Maranhão (18.0%) and Paraíba (15.1%) and the lowest in Sergipe (3.7%). Intermediate values of approximately 10% were observed in Piauí (10.8%), Pernambuco (10.6%) and Alagoas (9.3%).  The differences among the Federative Units of a same major region were lower in the Central West, where the major occurrence was 5.0% in Mato Grosso do Sul and the lowest, 4.1% in Federal District.  In the South, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul had 2.0% and 4.0% of serious food insecurity, respectively. In the Southeast, the maximum occurrence was 4.5%, in Minas Gerais, and the lowest, 3.4%, in São Paulo.

Occurrence of food security was higher in households with only adult residents

 

The results of the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) showed that food security or insecurity in Brazil, similarly to other countries has a strong association with the type of household unity. A higher occurrence of food insecurity was registered in the households in which lived persons under 18 years old (41.9%) in comparison with the occurrence observed in households in which all the residents were adults (24.2%).

A total of 80.4% of the households of the Southeast Region without residents younger than 18 years old were classified as being in a situation of food security.  This proportion was lower, 66.8%, in the same region, in the households with at least one resident younger than 18 years old.  The trend was the same in the several regions, with change only in the magnitude of differences.  In the Northeast, the occurrence of food security was observed in 61.2% of the households in which lived only adults and in 38.9% in those where also lived persons younger than 18 years old.

 

Households with children had major occurrence of food insecurity

 

A major occurrence of food insecurity was observed in households in which children lived.  The proportion of residents who lived in food security households increased with the age of residents and the proportion of residents in households with food insecurity decreased. In Brazil, 50.4% of the population from 0 to 4 years old dwelled in households with some type of food insecurity.  This percentage was 48.3% in the population from 5 to 17 years old, 36.9%  from 18 to 49 years old, 32% from 50 to 64 years old and 28.1% from 65 years old and over.  In the households with serious food insecurity, lived 10.3% of the population from 0 to 4 years old and 10.3% of the population from 5 to 17 years old; this proportion was 4.6% in the population from 65 years old and over.

 

Approximately 17% of the children under five years old in the North and Northeast Regions lived in households in situation of serious food insecurity. The proportion of persons 65 years of age or over living in households in situation of severe food insecurity in these two regions was almost half as that (8.8% and 8.5%, respectively).  In the Southeast, South and Central West, the percentages of children under five years of age living in households with serious food insecurity were 5.3%, 5.3% and 5.9%, respectively, while in the group 65 years old and over these numbers fell to 2.4%, 3.4% and 4.5%.

 

Households with a female reference person had less food security

The number of residents in each household also has an impact on the pattern of food security. The survey showed that food security in households with up to three residents (71.8%) fell to 35.2% in households with seven residents or more.  On the other hand, the occurrence of moderate or serious insecurity was 15.3% in households with up to three residents and 42.6% regarding the households with seven residents or more.  This pattern was repeated when the situation of the residence was considered, either urban or rural.  In urban areas, the occurrence of  moderate or serious food insecurity was 14.6% in the households with up to 3 residents and 40.5% in those with seven residents or more.  In the rural areas, these percentages were 19.5% and 47.9%, respectively.

 

The occurrence of moderate or serious food insecurity was higher in households with a female reference person.  This difference was more significant in the households in which lived people under 18 years old.  The occurrence of food security was 60.6% in households with a male reference person  and 49% with a female reference person.

Food insecurity was major among black and dark-skinned persons

 

Another condition which appears associated to food security in households is the color or race of the population.  In Brazil, in 2004, 11.5% (10 million persons) of the black or dark-skinned population lived in households with serious food insecurity. This proportion was 4.1% (3.8 million persons) among white persons. On the other hand, the population with guaranteed access to food in qualitative and quantitative terms, which means, who lived in households in food security conditions was 71.9% (67.3 million persons) among whites and 47.7% (41.7 million persons) among blacks and dark-skinned persons.  The differences in the proportion of serious food insecurity related to color or race in the population of Brazil were also observed in all the Federative Units, being of major magnitude in the Southeast, South and Central West Regions.  However, the major proportions of population in serious food insecurity conditions were observed in the North and Northeast of the Country.  In Espírito Santo, for example, 1.9% of the white population and 6% of the dark-skinned population lived in households with serious food insecurity.  In Santa Catarina, this percentage was 1.7% of whites compared to 5.2% of blacks and dark-skinned; while in Mato Grosso, 2.1% of whites compared to 6% of blacks and dark-skinned.

Food security observed in 17.5% of households with income up to 65 reais per capita

The data of PNAD 2004 confirm the magnitude of the association between income and food security. Whereas food security in Brazil, in 2004, was observed in 65.2% of the households (where 109.2 million persons lived), it occurred in only 17.5% of households with monthly income per capita of up to one-fourth of a minimum salary (R$65).  In this group, a moderate or serious food insecurity level affected approximately 61.2% of the households, while in those with household income per capita of more than three minimum salaries it was only 1.0%.

According to PNAD 2004, among the 22 million persons who lived in households without income or with monthly household income per capita of up to R$ 65, 6.3 million (28.6%) lived in households in serious food insecurity conditions.  Whereas in the urban area, 14.8% of the households with monthly household income per capita  of up to ¼ minimum salaries presented food security, in the rural area this occurrence was of 21.6%.  The difference between the urban and the rural areas was observed in all the groups of income, except in those without income and with undeclared income. In these groups, food security was higher in the urban area and moderate or serious food insecurity was higher in the rural area.

 

In the Northeast Region, 12.9 million persons (25.6% of its population) lived with a monthly household income per capita of up to ¼ minimum salary, including in this number persons without household income, and approximately 4 million among those lived in serious food insecurity conditions,  therefore, lived with famine.  In the income groups above two minimum salaries per capita, the food insecurity reached less than 1% of the population.

 

In the other regions of the country, the differences of food security and insecurity patterns were also a consequence of unevenness of income distribution observed in these regions.  In the North, among the 2.3 million persons with household income per capita of up to ¼ minimum salary or without household income, approximately 800 thousand (34.6%) lived with serious food insecurity.  As observed  in the Northeast Region, less than 1% of the residents of households of the North Region with household income per capita above two minimum salaries faced famine.

 

Around 15% of the households which received money from government social programs had serious food insecurity

 

Among the households in which any of the residents received money from a government social program, 34% were in food security situation, while in those which did not receive it, this percentage was 71.2%.  It could also be observed that of the 8 million households in which a resident received money from a government social program, 52.1% were in the Northeast Region, 22.7% in the Southeast, 10.7% in the South, 8.0% in the North and 6.5% in the Central West.  Among the benefited households, the distribution of food insecurity was: 73% in the North, 72.6% in the Northeast, 58.2% in the Southeast, 54.8% in the Central West and 52.3% in the South. Considering the households which did not receive money from a government social program, there was food insecurity in: 44.4% in the Northeast, 40.3% in the North, 27.2% in the Central West, 24% in the Southeast and 19.7% in the South. 

Methodology to measure Food Insecurity first developed in the United States

 

The evidence, in several countries, that the household income or other indirect indicators are not enough to identify populations under risk of food insecurity caused the development of a scale of direct measure of Food Insecurity and Famine by the Department of Agriculture of the United States (USDA).

 

This methodology started to be developed in the eighties by researchers of the University of  Cornell, who used qualitative methods to approach and understand food insecurity and famine among poor women who had lived under these adverse conditions.  This qualitative study led to a elaboration  of a scale of quantitative measure with 10 questions, which covered the perception as well as the preoccupation with future insufficiency of food regarding problems relative to the quantity of available calories as well as the quality of the nutrition.

 

In the nineties, using the scale of Cornell and others such as the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project - CCHIP, researchers joined together by the USDA developed a scale to be applied  in that country at national level.  The resulting scale, of 15 items and 3 sub-items, has been applied, since 1995, in the monthly telephone research (Current Population Survey do Bureau of Census) and also in the periodic surveys of Health and Nutrition (NHANES).

Methodology adjusted to the Brazilian reality

 

The development of the scale of direct measure in Brazil, which is known as Brazilian Scale of Food Insecurity - EBIA, is a result of the adjustment and validation of the scale of the Department of Agriculture of the United States.  The use of EBIA in the Country began with the study of validation carried out between 2003 and 2004 which, as decided by the coordinators of the survey, included  qualitative and quantitative stages of investigation.  This process resulted in a scale with fifteen questions, each of them corresponding to an event and being followed by four alternatives of frequency of occurrence of the respective event.

 

The validity of the scale was confirmed in 5 regions of Brazil before being incorporated to PNAD 2004.  Among the 15 items of the scale, nine are relative to adult residents in the household and six are relative to children.  In each question of the scale, referring to the period of ninety days which preceded the day of the interview, the alternatives for answers “Yes” and “No” are given.  If the answer is affirmative,  the frequency of occurrence of the event in the period is asked, allowing the following alternatives as answers: “in almost all the days”, “in some days” and “in only one or two days”.  For the analysis of results of the application of the scale in the PNAD, the households were classified according to their condition of food security into four categories: food security, low food insecurity, moderate food insecurity and serious food insecurity, as described in the process of validation of the EBIA.  The score given to each household, corresponds to the number of positive answers to the questions of the scale.

 

Here are some details of this process:

 

QUESTIONS INCLUDED IN THE SUPPLEMENT OF FOOD SECURITY OF PNAD 2004 REFERRING TO THE EBIA SCALE

 

QUESTIONS

Residents were worried that food could be over before they could buy or receive more food

There were no more food products before residents had money to buy more food

Residents were out of money to have a healthy and varied nutrition

Residents ate only some food which they already had, since their money was over

Any resident 18 years old or and over diminished, at a given moment, the amount of food in the regular meals or did not make meals because there was not any money to buy food

Any resident 18 years old and over, at a given time, ate less because there was not money to buy food

Any resident 18 years old and over, at a given moment, was hungry but did not eat because there was not money to buy food

Any resident 18 years old and over lost weight because he did not use to eat enough quantity of food due to lack of money to buy it

Any resident 18 years old and over, at a given time, had only one meal or remained the whole day without eating because there was not money to buy food

Any resident under 18 years of age, at a given time, did not have a healthy and varied diet because there was not money to buy food

Any resident under 18 years of age, at a given time, did not eat enough quantity of food in the meals because there was not money to buy food

Any resident under 18 years of age diminished the quantity of food in the meals because there was not money to buy food

Any resident under 18 years of age, at a given time, did not have a meal because there was not money to buy food

Any resident under 18 years of age, at a given time, was hungry but did not eat because there was not money to buy food

Any resident under 18 years of age, at a given time, experienced a whole day without eating because there was not money to buy food

 

Table for the classification of households with   residents   under 18 years of age,  in the categories of food security.

 

  Food Security: 0 points

                 Low Food Insecurity: 1 to 5 points

                          Moderate Food Insecurity: 6 to 10 points

                        Serious Food Insecurity: 11 to 15 points

 

table for the classification of households  only with residents 18 years of age and over, in the categories of food security.

 

 Food Security: 0 points

                Low Food Insecurity: 1 to 3 points

                       Moderate Food Insecurity: 4 to 6 points

                     Serious Food Insecurity: 7 to 9 points