Above: Haiti First Lady Sophia Martelly at the talks in Rio de Janeiro (Photo: OP)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti First Lady Sophia Martelly’s efforts to tackle malnutrition in Haiti are winning support in Brazil.

Martelly, in Rio de Janeiro this week for the Rio+22 summit, met Friday with several Brazilian officials to discuss her “Aba Grangou” (“down with hunger”) plan.

Following the talks, it was announced that Haitian technicians would visit Brazil in August for training to learn more about that country’s experience in the fight against hunger.

Martelly’s plan seeks to halve the percentage of the Haitian population that suffers from hunger by 2016, with an ultimate goal of eradicating hunger and malnutrition in Haiti between 2020 and 2025.

Maya Takagi, the Brazilian Secretary for Food and Nutritional Security, said she believed Brazil’s experience would be relevant to Haiti’s efforts.

In 2003, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched Fome Zero (“zero hunger”), a plan aimed at eradicating hunger and extreme poverty in Brazil.

Later on Friday, Martelly also met with Brazil’s Graziano da Silva, the director general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, along with special advisor Carlos Den Hartog, for talks aimed at defining the medium-term strategies of the plan.

Da Silva, who helped design and implement Fome Zero, said a technical mission would head to Haiti to assist the programme.