Brasília, 9/29/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - By November, 430 muncipals in the North region will have Food Cards, benefitting some 400,000 families. Preparations for the move into the North region (which includes most of the Amazon), began last month with training of local agents who will eventually set up management committees. The committees select families for the program. The program pays families R$50 per month for food purchases, besides providing them with information on nutrition and health.

In Acre, Food Cards have already begun to be distributed. Indian communities and 27quilombos (towns inhabited by the descendents of runaway slaves) in the states of Pará and Amapá have been included in the program. At the same time, other activities are giving a boost to family farming, literacy projects and micro-financing.

The Ministry of Food Security and Hunger Combat, which runs the program, and the Community Solidarity program, report that there is concern with the distances some of the families will have to travel to receive program benefits. In some areas along rivers it is necessary for people to travel a full day to reach a location where they can receive a government benefit payment. (AB)