Jose Graziano da Silva had the attention of nearly 200 policymakers in the room and 140 more people online as he discussed, for probably the nth time, his brainchild and Brazil’s highly successful flagship nutrition program called Zero Hunger. It happened June 15, a fortnight before he was elected to helm the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization, but more than 700 miles from the Italian capital.
Da Silva was participating in a Brussels Development Briefing on nutrition security, one in a series of gatherings focused on poverty reduction and economic development in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific region. No wonder these events draw an influential crowd: The EU – one of the world’s largest donors of development aid – is right around the corner, as is the Belgian aid agency.
