Dynamics of food sovereignty, food and nutrition security in Rio Grande do Sul: indicators and territoriality

Abstract

Brazil has made an important contribution to the theme of Food and Nutritional Security (SAN), a social construction that culminated in the creation of the National System of Food and Nutritional Security. Two concepts are strongly related to SAN: the human right to adequate food and food sovereignty. Food sovereignty is the right of a people and a nation to decide on their strategic policies, as well as their ways and conditions for producing, marketing and consuming their food. In order to advance in the challenge of monitoring the national FNS policy, the Socio-environmental Observatory on Food and Nutritional Security (OBSSAN-RS) developed for the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS) a platform for consulting and crossing indicators organized in eight dimensions, based on the National Food Security Plan (PLANSAN). Based on the principles of food sovereignty, OBSSAN developed the potential food sovereignty capacity indicator, based on the municipal food supply. The indicator weighs two complementary parameters: the quality offered by the food produced in the municipalities, and the quantity produced, based on the per capita ratio between local production and the size of the population. The historical trajectory of the supply of different food groups makes it possible to observe trends in future scenarios of sovereignty and food and nutritional security, as well as to qualify the territoriality of the offer based on the CPSAM profiles.