Household food insecurity in black-slaves descendant communities in Brazil: has the legacy of slavery truly ended?

Abstract

Objective: To identify the factors associated with food insecurity among Quilombolas communities in Brazil. Design: An analysis of secondary data assessed in the 2011 Quilombolas Census was performed. The Brazilian Food Insecurity Measurement Scale (Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar, EBIA) was used to assess household food security status. Sociodemographic conditions and access to social programmes and benefits were also evaluated. Setting: National survey census from recognized Quilombolas Brazilian territories. Subjects: Quilombolas households (n 8846). Results: About half (47·8 %) of the Quilombolas lived in severely food-insecure households, with the North and Northeast regions facing the most critical situation. Households located in North Brazil, whose head of the family had less than 4 years of education, with a monthly per capita income below $US 44, without adequate sanitation and without adequate water supply had the greatest chance of experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity. Households that had access to a water supply programme for dry regions (Programa Cisternas) and an agricultural harvest subsidy programme (Programa Garantia Safra) had less chance of experiencing moderate and severe food insecurity. Households that did not have access to health care (Programa Saúde da Família) had greater chance of suffering from moderate or severe food insecurity. Conclusions: Interventions are urgently needed to strengthen and promote public policies aimed to improve living conditions and food security in Quilombolas communities. Keywords Food security Household food insecurity Quilombolas Social vulnerability Epidemiological surveysFood and nutrition security is the guaranteed right for all to have access to safe, healthy and nutritious foods in adequate amounts, respecting cultural and social preferences (1,2) . The violation of this leads to household food insecurity (HFI), which can range from mild (concerns with food shortage and poor quality of foods due lack of money) to severe (occurrence of hunger) (3) . In Brazil, HFI is measured by national surveys using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Measurement Scale (Escala Brasileira de Insegurança Alimentar, EBIA) (3) . Since 2004 Brazil has generated data on household food security from three National Household Representative Surveys (4) . Analyses of these data have identified black or brown skin colour, low income and education, and poor health as risk factors for HFI (3,4) .In 2004 the prevalence of food insecurity among black and brown individuals was 43·4 % compared with 24·6 % among whites. Between 2004 and 2013 this prevalence decreased but still remained higher among black and brown individuals than whites (33·4 v. 17·2 %, respectively). In 2013 over half (50·7 %) of the Brazilian population self-identified as having black or brown skin (5) , a characteristic associated with illiteracy and low income. Specifically, illiteracy was 11·8 % among black and brown individuals and 5·3 % among whites; furthermore, 14·1 % of the black and ...

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“… 1 Data from references 5 , 7 , 8 , 11 , 14 , 15 , 20 , 24 , 28 – 31 , 34 , 38 , 41 , and 48 . FI, food insecurity.…”

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