Transcript Right to Food, Food Security and Food Sovereignty

Right to Food, Food Security
and Food Sovereignty
BORBÁLA SIMONYI
ENLARGING FAIR PROJECT
1ST TRAINING SESSION
MALTA, 6TH DECEMBER 2008
The recent food crisis – a system crisis
 Already before, more than 800 million starving
 Extreme climate
 Commodities speculation
 Pledges by world leaders: more of the same medicin
 Eradication of hunger will not work without putting
human rights first
Human rights: a better basis for global trade
rules
 Universal, indivisible and interdependent
 Legally binding on all states
 Emphasise equality and non-discrimination
 Principles of participation, accountability,
transparency
 International and extraterritorial obligations implied
 Not associated with one type of economical system
WTO in conflict with human rights?
 Discourages state intervention
 Uses a trade yardstick
 Ignores the most vulnerable groups
 Focuses on dictating one economic model instead of
outcomes
 Lack of participation and transparency
Governments obligations in relations to human
rights
 Respect – ensure no policy interferes with HRs
 Protect – enforcing policies to prevent actors from
interfering with HRs
 Fulfil: „progressive realisation”: special programmes
targeting the most vulnerable groups
 In our globalised world: extraterritorial obligations
The evolution of the concept of RtF
 Recognised in the UNHR 1948
 Included in the International Covenant on
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Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1996 World Food Sumit
General Comment 12 by the UN Committee on
Economic Social and Cultural Rights – access to
means of production
2000: UN Special Rapporteur on the RtF
2002 WFS+5
2004 FAO council: Voluntary Guidelines
„The right to adequate food is realised when every
man, woman and child , alone or in community with
others has physical and economic acces at all times
to adequate food or means for its procurement in
ways consistent with human dignity”
General Comment, 12, the Right to Adequate Food
The Right to Food
 Availability of food in quantity and quality
sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals
free from adverse substances and culturally
acceptable
 Accessibility of such food in ways that are
sustainable and that do not interfere with the
enjoyment of other human rights
Evolution of the Food Security concept
 Used since the end of the 70’s
 in context of UN agencies
 At first: global food security
 1979: national food security
 Focusing on availability of food supply, thus
production oriented policies
 1981 Amartya Sen: Poverty and Famines – access to
food
 Access of individuals to food, household/individual
food security
Right to Food vs. Food security
 Food Security focuses more on access to
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food/purchasing food vs. RtF and Food sovereignty
on access to productive resources
States a technical goal which states work for but no
means to hold them accountable
Still a bias towards availability of food vs. The Rtf
which starts from individual entitlement
Doesn’t ask the how? question – dignity
Common point: economical access to food
Food Sovereignty
 Political concept
 Alternative policy framework as a
 Challenge to the mainstream liberal trade-based food
security paradigm
 Using rights language to support political demands
Evolution of the Food Sovereignty concept
 1996 World Food Summit: Via Campesina
 Several other NGO/CSO fora to follow:
 Paralel events/public consultations to FAO meetings
 Paralel protest meetings to WTO negotiations:
Seattle, Cancún, Hong-Kong, etc
 International Fora for Food Sovereignty: Havana,
Colombia
 Nyéléni Forum in Mali, 2007
Definition of IPC, 2004
„Food Sovereignty is the right of individuals,
communities, peoples and countries to define their
own agricultural, labour, fishing, food and land
policies, which are ecologically, sociall, economically
and culturally appropiate to their unique
circumstances. It includes the true right to food and
to produce food, which means that all people have
the right to safe, nutritious and culturally appropiate
food and to food-producing resources and the ability
to sustain themselves and their societies.”
Six pillars of Food Sovereignty
 Focuses on food for people
 Values food providers
 Localises food systems
 Puts control locally
 Builds knowledge and skills
 Works with nature
Policy proposals emerging from the concept
 Code of Conduct on the Human Right to Food
 International Convention on Food Sovereignty
 World Commission on Sustainable Agriculture
 Reformed and strengthened United Nations
 Independent dispute settlement mechanism
 International treaty to define the rights of
smallholder farmers
Potential of Food Sovereignty policies against
hunger and poverty – national level
 Marginalisation
 Access to productive resources and land policy
 Budget allocation
 Rural employment
 Other policy areas
FS policies against hunger & poverty international
 Prices/dumping
 Markets – lack on physical access, standards,
concentration
 Policy space – WTO, IMF, WB
Challenges to the FS policy framework
 From the current dominant development paradigm
 Production-oriented focus on global food security
 The use of the term „sovereignty”
 In the same time asking for more global governance
 Several proposals for new international legal
instruments – feasible?
 Confused use of the rights language
Literature
 Michal Windfuhr & Jennie Jonsen (FIAN): Food
Sovereignty. Towards Democracy in Localised Food
Systems. http://www.ukabc.org/foodsovpaper.htm
 Carin Smaller & Sophia Murphy (IATP): Bridging the
Divide: a human rights visvion for global foor trade.
http://www.iatp.org/iatp/publications.cfm?refid=10
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Useful links
 Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
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www.iatp.org
United Kingdom Network for Agricultural
Biodiversity www.ukabc.org
International Planning Committee on FS
www.foodsovereignty.org
Website of Jean Ziegler www.righttofood.org
La Via Campesina: www.viacampesina.org
FIAN International: www.foodfirst.org
Our World is not for Sale Network: www.owinfs.org