The semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil, where rural women have long struggled with food insecurity and water scarcity, is a place of resilience. For generations, women here were responsible for supporting agriculture, managing domestic work, caring for family, and transporting heavy buckets with water balanced on their heads from distant wells. But the launch of Brazil’s ‘Zero Hunger’ strategy in the early 2000s changed everything.
In 2022, I talked with women from a small community in this region about how three of the Zero Hunger programmes have impacted their food practices: the cash transfer programme Bolsa Família, the PRONAF agriculture credit programme, and the Cisterns programme, which provided families with water tanks for their homes.
More money meant more consumption and more waste. With no garbage collection system in place, the women burned their waste, with serious health and environmental risks
These initiatives significantly improved daily life. With access to water, women could maintain gardens and raise birds, ensuring a more diverse and nutritious diet. They had more time to cultivate their land and care for their families. With the increased income from the cash transfer programme, families had access to a more varied diet that included rice, beans, meat and vegetables. Women noted that their meals now included more minimally processed food, thanks to the increased income and better access to nearby markets.
In the words of one woman, “We didn’t have the money to buy them [the vegetables] in the farm market, and there was no water to water those vegetables… We used to carry the water in cans in our heads, so it would be just the necessary water for basic things. Nowadays we have water, it comes from the cistern and then we water the plants.”
Deep-rooted cultural and economic challenges
Nonetheless, with these improvements came new challenges. Over the years, younger generations began to consume more ultra-processed foods, shifting away from traditional diets based on corn and manioc and replacing them with pasta or rice.
Only five of the 17 women I talked to utilised PRONAF. An important reason for this was that many felt excluded from financial decision making, with their husbands taking control of investments. This highlighted a persistent issue: whereas economic conditions improved, gender roles remained unchanged in rural communities.
Another challenge was waste disposal; more money meant more consumption and more waste. With no garbage collection system in place, the women burned their waste, a practice that posed serious health and environmental risks. “If a truck would pass by and take recyclable [waste] … it would be much better,” noted one of the women interviewed.
Despite these difficulties, the women expressed satisfaction with the programmes. They acknowledged the positive impact on their food practices and overall quality of life.
Although the success of the Zero Hunger programmes demonstrates the potential for long-term change, the need to address related structural and cultural barriers remains evident. For example, programmes for waste collection and for addressing the persistent sexism in the region must accompany economic support. Future initiatives should focus on providing women with greater decision-making power, ensuring they are not just beneficiaries but active agents of change.
The story of these rural women is one of perseverance, adaptation and growth. Their journey underscores the importance of holistic development—where access to resources is matched by the knowledge and autonomy to use them effectively. The road ahead may still be challenging, but their resilience and determination pave the way for a brighter future.
Author: Mariana Lopes Simoes is a PhD candidate in Public Health at Bielefeld University in Germany and part of the global People’s Health Movement. Email: lopessimoes.mari@gmail.com
Watch a video about Mariana’s work around women’s rural perspectives on public policies: https://youtu.be/35gCeLASv3Y
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This article is part of Issue 2-2025: Cultivating health and healing
