In a brick warehouse on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, dozens of charity workers filled trucks with bags of beans, rice, flour and other staples to be distributed throughout the Brazilian metropolis' sprawling slums.
RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA - In a brick warehouse on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, dozens of charity workers filled trucks with bags of beans, rice, flour and other staples to be distributed throughout the Brazilian metropolis’ sprawling slums.
Lockdowns have ravaged the incomes of Brazil’s poor, throwing many of Brazil’s 38 million informal workers into unemployment. The refrigerator of Rosana de Paula, 37, was empty but for a bottle of water, an eggplant, a wedge of cheese and a piece of pumpkin - all donated by local restaurants. They warned the new coronavirus will cause hunger on a scale not seen in decades, worsening poverty that was already rising due to cuts to social programs after Brazil slid into a deep, long-lasting recession in 2015 amid a collapse in commodities prices.
Despite Brazil being a top food exporter, nongovernmental organizations said some families have not eaten a meal for two or three days. With the World Bank predicting the economy to shrink by 5% this year, the situation was expected to deteriorate further in one of the world’s most unequal societies.
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