The role of local networks in food and nutritional security: the experience of the SANS-BT Network, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

The article discusses the importance of Local Food Security and Nutrition Networks, from the viewpoint of social participation and intersectoriality, principles established by Health Promotion, as well as how the educational processes occur in these spaces. The participatory methodology occurred in the municipality of São Paulo, in Butantã region. The participant observation was carried out in the Local Network of Food Security and Nutrition in the follow-up in periodic meetings, seminars, courses, occasional workshops carried out by the members of this network, during the period between May 2015 and December 2016. The collected data showed the potential of this group and the efforts expended by its members to raise awareness, mobilize and involve social actors in issues related to Food Security and Nutrition, as well as the strategies for articulating the development of intersectoral actions and training processes that occur in every moment. It is concluded that the members of this network played an important role in strengthening of this area, both at the local level and at the municipal level, serving as a model for other networks that are developing in the country.