One-third of Brazil’s export earnings come from agriculture, yet in 2004, 72 million of its 185 million residents were affected by food insecurity (Institute of Geography and Statistics). Only when this situation became unacceptable to a large enough number of Brazilians, did the country reach critical mass – the point at which change had to take place. The agent for change that people chose was President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. He had still not been sworn-in when he requested that FAO review the country’s Zero Hunger Programme (Fome Zero) proposal.