President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva today was poised to launch his key Zero Hunger program, which aims to feed the 46 million Brazilians who survive on less than a dollar a day.
The program will get underway in some of the most impoverished areas of the country, the world's 10th-largest economy.
Two pilot projects will kick off in Guaribas and Acaua, in the northeastern Piaui region, where more than 700 families will in coming days begin to receive $14 in aid per month, which they may withdraw with a magnetic-strip card.
Some $500 million have been earmarked for the Zero Hunger program this year, in addition to private-sector donations of food and money. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen (22) is said to have donated between $100,000-$150,000.
Organizers hope to expand the program to help some 1.5 million families by the end of the year in 1,000 different areas racked by drought.
Zero Hunger will also create food banks for poor urban areas in the nation of some 170 million, known for its yawning gap between rich and poor.
AFP