An anthropological exploration of the effects of family cash transfers on the diets of mothers and children in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

The Bolsa Família program (BFP) has reached almost a quarter of the Brazilian population. The program targets households in extreme poverty through direct cash transfers from the federal government. Essentially, debit cards are issued, preferably to mothers in a household, and monthly cash transfers are made on the condition that their children meet education (minimum school attendance) and health requirements (vaccinations). Since itsinauguration in 2003 (current incarnation), there have been many evaluations of the BFP concerning its impact on child nutrition, which have yielded inconsistent results. Evaluations have raised questions about the use of funds for competing households needs and the BFP’s role in contributing to a “nutrition transition” trend (Popkin 1994), with direct impacts on the quality of children’s diets (Ibase 2008). Chronic child malnutrition has been widely assessed in the rural Brazilian Amazon and consumption of processed foods is on the rise (Piperata 2007). However, agricultural production still contributes to a large portion of the diets, and children are active in procuring foods (Smith et al. 2007). In this context, this research investigates household management of the BFP-benefit, testing if management features are associated with food provisioning, intake of processed foods, and health status. Moreover, it addresses the effect of BFP participation on mothers’ diets. The research has a longitudinal design, using mixed methods (e.g. ethnography, household money management interviews, 24-hour dietary recalls, and anthropometry – the last two repeated three times during the year); and a case control, including non-BFP participants (census interview and food frequency questionnaire). The dissertation chapters address the historical and socio-cultural context of the communities studied; environmental variables associated with fluctuations in diets; BFP participation and its associations with consumption of processed foods and food production; and BFP cash-benefit management and its associations with health variables.