Hunger Map

In July 2025, Brazil once again put a full plate on the table—not only in quantity, but in dignity and hope. The country’s removal from the UN Hunger Map was celebrated at the Food Systems Summit in Addis Ababa, with less than 2.5% of the population facing chronic undernourishment (SOFI 2025). But those who breathe with the most difficulty remain the majority.

Hunger has color, gender, and territory. Black families are 29% more likely to experience food insecurity and 37% more likely to face hunger—even when controlling for income, education, and region (Pacto Contra a Fome). In 2023, 514 Black households faced food insecurity for every 1,000 with full access to food, compared to just 140 among white households.

This gap widens even further when broken down by gender: in households headed by Black women, 33% experience moderate or severe food insecurity, compared to 21.3% in Black men’s households, 17.8% in white women’s households, and 9.8% in white men’s households (Oxfam Brasil).

In an article I published in July 2023 in CartaCapital, I stated:

“The most severe forms of food insecurity are present in one-third of households headed by Black women (33%) and one-fifth of those headed by Black men (21.3%), while in households headed by white women and men, the proportions are lower (respectively 17.8% and 9.8%).”

I also wrote that:

“Fighting hunger in Brazil necessarily involves combating racism and sexism, which deny Black people and women basic rights such as access to social services, employment, income, and decent housing, as well as adequate and healthy food.”

These inequalities are not new, nor are they natural. They are the result of decades of neglect and a system that insists on exclusion. Brazil only reached this point because it reinstated public policies that had been dismantled. The return of Bolsa Família, the creation of the Plano Brasil Sem Fome, the reinstatement of Consea, and the strengthening of family farming now form a minimum safety net. But it still fails the most vulnerable.

Women, as always, remain the link between care and resistance. While the data points to hunger, they point to solutions. Solidarity networks, community kitchens, and urban gardens are led by women who understand hunger not only as the absence of food, but as the absence of justice.

Sources Artigo “No Brasil, a fome tem cor e gênero” – CartaCapital https://www.cartacapital.com.br/artigo/no-brasil-a-fome-tem-cor-e-genero/

Oxfam Brasil – Famílias negras sofrem mais com a fome https://www.oxfam.org.br/noticias/familias-negras-sofrem-mais-com-a-fome-do-que-familias-brancas-revelam-novos-dados-da-pesquisa-da-rede-penssan/

Pacto Contra a Fome – Insegurança alimentar na população negra https://pactocontrafome.org/inseguranca-alimentar-populacao-negra/

Rede Penssan / Pesquisa VIGISAN http://bit.ly/3H9fwII