Representatives from African countries kicked-off a meeting about food security on Monday in Brazil, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports. The meeting is part of a series of Brazilian initiatives, which aim to strengthen ties between the country and Africa and help the continent expand its agricultural capabilities (5/11).

The meeting, called the “Brazil-Africa Dialogue on Food Security, Fight against Hunger and Rural Development,” includes the Brazilian foreign ministry and ministers and experts from African countries, according to Xinhua/People’s Daily Online. Jacques Diouf, head of FAO, lauded “Brazil’s [domestic] Zero Hunger program and said it should be exported to the African countries to ensure food safety and quality of life for people living there,” the news service reports.

According to Xinhua/People’s Daily Online, “[f]ifty projects related to food security are operated by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency in 18 African countries, which in recent years received about 60 percent of resources for international cooperation. According to Diouf, about 20 million people have benefitted from the Brazilian and international projects taking place in Africa” (5/11).

The meeting will address “issues related to enhancement of cooperation in several agriculture fields, such as the capacity of the countries in terms of the investments in the sector, rural extension and the commercial exchanges,” Angola Press reports (5/10).

In related news, the World Food Programme (WFP) recognized Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, as a Global Champion in the Battle Against Hunger for his efforts to end hunger in his own country and around the world, MercoPress reports (5/11).

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran “bestowed the honour on Mr. Lula da Silva during her first official visit to the country,” according to the U.N. News Centre. Sheeran said Lula “has shown leadership in the fight against hunger by pushing the needs of the poor and the under-nourished to the very top of the international agenda.” Brazil has worked with the WFP to help governments in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean with school meal programs (5/10).