A/HRC/16/40 B. The urban poor 75. Belo Horizonte is the fourth largest city in Brazil; estimates from the early 1990s concluded that 38 per cent of families81 and 44 per cent of children82 live under the poverty line. The city government created a municipal secretariat of supplies to tailor an integrated policy addressing malnutrition and hunger. Programmes cover (a) policies that assist poor families and individuals at risk by supplementing their food intake; (b) partnering with private food suppliers to bring food to areas previously neglected by commercial establishments; and (c) increase food production and supply through technical and financial incentives given to small-scale producers to link rural producers and urban consumers.83 A 20-member council with representatives from the Government sector, labour unions, food producers/consumers and non-governmental organizations advised the secretariat on its project. Much of the secretariat’s success is due to the decentralization of social programmes that were previously managed at the federal level (for example, school meals were provided in this manner). Decentralization allows for savings (such as transportation costs) and opens up space for production by local suppliers. Lastly, ensuring local participation and commitment conveys a sense of ownership to the communities of Belo Horizonte. C. Women 76. The African Women Food Farmer Initiative of the Hunger Project was the first microfinance programme in Africa developed to target women food producers, and the first to result in officially recognized rural banks being owned and operated by rural women. A total of 18 rural banks now operate as independent, community-owned and women-led rural financial institutions. The Project has disbursed nearly $7.9 million to various communities, 42 per cent of which has been distributed by rural banks. 77. The Kenya Women Finance Trust Ltd., established in 1981 as the largest and only microfinance institution exclusively for women, ensures that women entrepreneurs have access to credit and promotes savings mobilization among its 100,000 members from seven of the eight provinces in Kenya. By December 2008, it was responsible for 247,538 active loans.84 The Al Tadamun Microfinance Foundation in Egypt provides group-guaranteed microfinance exclusively for women. At December 2010, it had in excess of 103,600 active borrowers and a portfolio of $ 14 million. 78. Kiva is a person-to-person microlending website that links individual lenders to rural entrepreneurs around the world, especially in Africa. Lenders browse through profiles of entrepreneurs and women farmers that are uploaded to the Kiva website, and lend them funds using their credit cards. Kiva then provides the funds to the beneficiaries. 79. Through the Purchase for Progress scheme (P4P), WFP is attempting to promote smallholders’ agricultural production and access to markets in order to address food 81 82 83 84 20 J. R. B. Lopes and S. M. S. Telles, “Caracterização das populações pobres no Brasil e de seu acesso à programas sociais”, in Galeazzi, M.A.M., ed., Segurança Alimentar e Cidadania, São Paulo, Mercado das Letras, 1996. Conselho Municipal da Criança e do Adolescente, Diagnóstico: Criança e Adolescente em Belo Horizonte, PHB, 1994. See also Cecilia Rocha, “An integrated program for urban food security: the case of Belo Hortizonte, Brazil”, April 2000. Available from www.envireform.utoronto.ca/conference/local-food/ceciliarocha.doc. See the website of Kenya Women Finance Trust Limited Microfinance (www.kwft.org).