All countries

Brazil

National Food and Nutrition Security System

Brazil governs food and nutrition security through the National Food and Nutrition Security System (SISAN), established by the Organic Law on Food and Nutrition Security (LOSAN, Law No. 11,346/2006) and regulated by Decree No. 7,272/2010. SISAN is a public system of intersectoral and participatory management that connects three bodies in a single cycle: a national conference held every four years sets directives; a council of civil society and government translates them into guidance for the Presidency and monitors delivery; and an interministerial chamber converts them into national plans and coordinates execution across 24 ministries. The three are connected by design: the government third of the Council is made up of the same ministries that compose the Chamber.

National Conferences on Food and Nutrition Security

Institutional set-up and structure. Convened every four years at the start of the national management cycle, and preceded by municipal and state preparatory conferences. The 6th National Conference (2023) was built through some 2,200 participants across 1,600 municipal preparatory stages.

Mandate and decision-making power. The Conference brings government and civil society together to debate and propose the guidelines and priorities that frame public policy for the cycle ahead. Its role is to set direction; formulation, adoption and delivery rest with the permanent bodies. Its outcomes directly informed the current National Food and Nutrition Security Plan, and the vision adopted as its 2023 motto frames the 2023–2027 cycle.

Role across the building blocks: Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue; decision making on goals and strategic priorities

Who is involved. Government and organised civil society together, at municipal, state and national stages.

How it works in practice. Held at the start of a government term. Municipal and state conferences feed proposals and delegates upward, and the resulting directives are carried forward by the Council and the Chamber through the four years that follow.

Evidence base: Extended Assessment of the Food System Governance Strengthening Framework (documentary evidence and stakeholder surveys), 2026.

Last updated: September 2026.

National Council for Food and Nutrition Security (CONSEA)

Institutional set-up and structure. The primary instance of social participation within SISAN and an advisory council to the President of the Republic. Its Executive Secretariat is housed within the General Secretariat of the Presidency, whose Secretary-General holds ministerial rank, and its budget is appropriated directly under the Presidency. The Council is chaired by a representative of a civil society member organisation and works through a plenary, a board, permanent commissions and its Executive Secretariat. Re-established by Decree No. 11,421/2023.

Mandate and decision-making power. The Council translates the Conference's directives into guidelines and recommendations advising the President, and monitors implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan. Its mandate is advisory: it advises, monitors and exercises social control, while the Chamber and line ministries execute. Its consultative character gives it space for articulation and dialogue among the diverse actors that compose it, with its influence operating through the weight of its recommendations and the accountability loop built into SISAN, under which the Chamber considers its recommendations and reports back.

Roles across the building blocks

  • Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue; decision making on goals and strategic priorities

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; developing policies for consideration by relevant authorities

  • Monitoring and evaluation: monitoring, evaluation and reporting

Who is involved

  • Civil society: two-thirds of seats, allocated on representativeness criteria — social movements, family farming and peasant organisations, indigenous peoples, quilombola and traditional communities, extractivists, agroecology networks and consumer defence organisations

  • Government: one-third of seats, comprising the same ministries that compose the Chamber

  • Academia: a substantial share of members are university professors or researchers, including the current president

  • Development partners: participate as observers, admitted through a formal process

  • Private sector: not identified by members as an influential voice within the Council

How it works in practice. Recommendations originate in permanent commissions with technical opinions attached, proceed to plenary deliberation with consensus sought before a majority vote, and set out their reasoning through detailed Considerandos. External voices enter through Listening Rounds (Rodas de Escuta), in which traditional communities and external experts are heard directly by the Council. Plenary minutes record debates in detail, including disagreements and the textual adjustments they produce. The Council monitors 43 priority actions through its permanent commissions, exercises permanent budget monitoring, maintains a public dashboard, and reports formally to the President.

Interministerial Chamber for Food and Nutrition Security (CAISAN)

Institutional set-up and structure. A permanent collegiate body for intersectoral articulation and integration, bringing together 24 ministries. It functions through a Ministerial Plenary as its superior deliberative body, an Executive Plenary as its operational tier, management committees and thematic working groups. The Presidency is held by the Minister for Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, with the Extraordinary Secretariat for Combating Poverty and Hunger serving as Executive Secretariat — an arrangement designed to drive intersectoral action through co-management. Established in its current form by Decree No. 11,422/2023 and reformulated by decree in September 2025.

Mandate and decision-making power. The Chamber elaborates the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Plan — including goals, funding sources and monitoring arrangements — coordinates their execution across member ministries, monitors budget allocations, and articulates with state and municipal governments. Its nature is deliberative, coordinating and normative as well as advisory: it acts principally by resolution, which is in principle binding on its members, with delivery resting on member ministries acting on decisions they have jointly taken.

Roles across the building blocks

  • Agenda setting: decision making on goals and strategic priorities

  • Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; coordinating the policy development and planning process; developing policies for consideration by relevant authorities; deciding on and enacting policies

  • Implementation: coordinating policy and programme implementation; coordinating financial resources and the budget needed to implement policies and programmes

  • Monitoring and evaluation: monitoring, evaluation and reporting

Who is involved

  • Government: 24 ministries spanning social development, agrarian development and family farming, agriculture, health, education, finance, planning and budget, foreign affairs, science and technology, environment and climate, cities, labour, women, racial equality, indigenous peoples, human rights and culture, alongside the Casa Civil and the General Secretariat of the Presidency

  • Federal agencies: including the national supply company, the food and drug agency, the education development fund, the indigenous peoples foundation and the agricultural research corporation

  • Civil society: enters through the Council, represented in the Executive Plenary by its Presidency and Executive Secretariat, alongside a permanent social participation seat

  • Private sector: not a member; terms for any future participation are being considered by a dedicated working group established in 2025

How it works in practice. Decisions are built collegially across the 24 member ministries, and any ministry may request an agenda item at any time. Core decisions follow a structured path of situational diagnosis, intersectoral workshops and formal validation by member ministries, with all resolutions published in the Official Diary of the Union. Member ministries allocate their own budgets to implement agreed policies, and the programmes comprising the National Plan are incorporated into the federal multi-year plan and the annual budget laws of the respective ministries. Monitoring runs through dedicated instruments, including the SISAN Census, the food and nutrition insecurity registry and an integrated monitoring system established in 2025. The Chamber conducts year-end stocktakes (balanços) of its own functioning and formally tracks Council recommendations, documenting the reasoning for their acceptance or modification.