Brasília, March 2, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The community garden program was launched today in Piauí. 15 needy municipalities will be benefitted. The program has already been implanted in Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Ceará, and other states where the population suffers from malnutrition.

The crops are cultivated in schools and community lots, and the families that are helped can themselves work in the gardens. The resources for the program come from the Bank of Brazil Foundation and the Zero Hunger Program. Cultivation of the crops receives support from institutions that provide technical assistance in agriculture, such as the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company (Embrapa) and the Technical Assistance and Rural Extension Company (Emater).

"The purpose of the program is to improve the food security conditions of low income families and the generation of jobs and income," said the president of the Bank of Brazil Foundation, Jackes de Oliveira Pena.

The community garden program has already put manioc, beans, tomatoes, carrots, and other food items on the tables of 150 families in Ceará. Another R$ 950 thousand will be invested in the program this year. (DAS)