One billion of the people in the world face hunger. The real problem is not the lack of food, it's the access to food. In Brazil's third city, Belo Horizonte, the right to food is now guaranteed by law. It's policy inspired many people in the world, but in different countries different strategies are needed. Together with journalist Sara Abreu Mata Machado we'll travel around the world and analyze problems and solutions.
No Fight No Victory
A feature length film about hunger in the world, together with European broadcasters, the United Nations and the World Future Council.
The fight against hunger
“There were eight hundred and fifty million people hungry in 2005, nine hundred twenty million in the beginning of 2008 and now we have over one billion people hungry.”
- Olivier de Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food.
The feature length film
The film starts in Brazil’s third largest city, Belo Horizonte, a city with nearly three million inhabitants. In 1993, Patrus Ananias, a Catholic university professor, was elected mayor. Alarmed that a quarter of the city’s population was undernourished, he vowed to end hunger with the following slogan: food is a right of citizenship. If you are too poor to buy food in the market, you are no less a citizen.
And he succeeded in his struggle. Now children get used to a regular meal in de schools, adults can get a cheap and healthy meal in Belo Horizontes Popular Restaurants, there are markets where they sell 20 basic products for 69 cents a kilo and small farmers are stimulated to produce for these markets.
The child mortality rate in Belo Horizonte has decreased by 60% in the last decade since the policy was introduced in 1993, the number of children below the age of five hospitalized for malnutrition has sank by 75%. 40% of the population directly profits from this programme
In the film we show how the city became an inspiration to the world. We travel to countries like Egypt, India and Mozambique and see how difficult it is to implement the successful policy of Brazil. The movie makes clear that just copying the Brazilian tactic is not going to work. Countries should make a structural plan that captures the fundamental cause of the food problem.
A journalist and dancer as a guide
Sara Abreu Mata Machado is born in Belo Horizonte and teaches children capoeira in the city’s favela’s, a dance originating from the slaves that came from Africa. The dance is all about justice, freedom and the right for a better life. With Sara as a guide music and dance will play an ever important role in the film.
First short film about Belo Horizonte
With Sara we already made a short film about the success story of Belo Horizonte. That film will have its premiere in Hamburg , October 1, 2009 when the city receives the Future Policy Award. The award will be handed over to Patrus Ananias, who became the Brazilian Minister for Social Development and the Fight against Hunger.
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