South-South Cooperation in Question

A lot has been said about the success of Brazilian policies on food and nutrition security that helped to lift 36 million people out of the poverty line both in urban and rural areas. In particular, two policies have attracted... [ view full abstract ]

A lot has been said about the success of Brazilian policies on food and nutrition security that helped to lift 36 million people out of the poverty line both in urban and rural areas. In particular, two policies have attracted great attention from other developing countries that struggle to overcome hunger and poverty in Latin America and Africa: the Food Acquisition Programme (in Portuguese, Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos - PAA) and the National School Feeding Programme (in Portuguese, Programa Nacional de Alimentação Escolar - Pnae). Under the name of Purchase from Africans for Africa (PAA Africa) those Brazilian models have been transferred to five countries in Africa within the context of south-south cooperation on food and nutrition security. This paper is based on a case study on the PAA Africa in Hawassa, Ethiopia, in 2016 and 2017. From the perspective of policy transfer and policy assemblage, mobility and mutation, this study seeks to understand how the Brazilian PAA has been interpreted, transferred and implemented in a country with such different historical, social and economic context as Ethiopia. I have adopted Dolowitz and Marsh framework as a starting point to guide the analysis of policy transfer. Still, the transformations observed in the program are corroborated by the concepts of mobility, assembly and mutation described by geographers McCann and Ward. The research carried out in Hawassa investigates the main actors engaged on agricultural issues, their goals and perspective on how to fight hunger and poverty. Upon arriving in Hawassa, the Brazilian policy merges into programs and organizations locally operated. Although it considers the premise of Home Grown School Feeding, the program develops in a very distinct path from the Brazilian PAA. By advocating the use of chemical fertilizers and hybrid seeds to increase yields and find valuable markets, the new program strengthens the very developmental patterns it struggled to resist when created in Brazil. These transformations were essentially related to the role played by Word Food Programme as an important translating agent. The study also reveals how Ethiopia has been motivated to adopt a Home Grown School Feeding model. Through interviews and participatory methods to analyze contemporary changes within Sidama small farmers communities, the study depicts the complex rural scene of Hawassa where the Brazilian policy was applied. Thinking of a sustainable solution to mitigate hunger and poverty, the research discusses some elements that would be essential for a successful policy transfer, outlining potential local partners with cutting-edge methodology. 

Key words : PAA Africa Ethiopia, policy transfer, overcoming hunger