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Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In order to advance the implementation of the right to adequate food, renewed political commitment is essential and stakeholders must look to those countries that have made significant progress in adopting policies and legislation in this regard. The post-2015 sustainable development goals should give priority to sustainability and the adoption of a vigorous human rights approach.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The year 2014 is one of reflection for global food policymakers as they take stock of the progress made following the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security a decade ago. The Guidelines have provided a concrete tool with which to evaluate whether the principles set forth in human rights instruments and hortatory principles are having a practical impact on people's lives, especially the most vulnerable. The Special Rapporteur intends to work closely with FAO, the Committee on World Food Security and other relevant stakeholders to evaluate progress made to date, by taking into consideration examples of good practice as a means of promoting the Guidelines.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- States are bound by treaties and customary human rights law and could be found legally responsible in the event of the deliberate destruction of international humanitarian aid or intentional blockage of access to food. International humanitarian organizations and NGOs also have a responsibility to distinguish humanitarian food aid in times of war from food aid in periods of peace and they should follow the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality in this regard. During her tenure, the Special Rapporteur intends to monitor situations of ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis, particularly those where populations are experiencing acute vulnerability with respect to food security as a result of a humanitarian emergency or protracted conflict. Those currently experiencing such crises include the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, South Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Gaza, among others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- International humanitarian law, which, inter alia, is designed to ensure that civilians and prisoners of war have adequate food and water during armed conflicts, also outlines preventive measures by prohibiting the deliberate starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in situations of both international and internal armed conflict. That prohibition is violated not only when access to food is denied, resulting in death, but also when the population goes hungry as a result of deprivation of food sources or supplies. In accordance with international criminal law, violations of such protection constitute war crimes. Deliberate starvation, whether during times of war or peace, may also constitute genocide or a crime against humanity. Implementation is always controversial in those situations, especially if the combat zone is limited to the territory of a single State. It should be noted that the right to food continues to be protected by international human rights law during times of armed conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The world is currently blighted by a plethora of humanitarian crises and armed conflicts, which are having a devastating impact on the lives of millions of people around the globe. While 19 per cent of the poorest people in the world now live in fragile and conflict-affected places, it is estimated that this will increase to 40 per cent by 2030 if current trends continue. The international community must take greater responsibility for emergency food crises derived from natural or human-made disasters, global economic crises, climate change, or as a result of armed conflict.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- The High-level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of the Committee on World Food Security stresses the importance of reducing food waste.24 The Special Rapporteur supports the call for the development of global protocols to measure food loss and waste, with due sensitivity to the large number of variables and national specificities, so as to improve the reliability, comparability and transparency of the data.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- Approximately 1.3 billion tons, representing almost one third of world total food production for human consumption, is wasted per year. That is equivalent to more than half of world annual cereal production. Food waste varies significantly by country and region. In developing countries, food waste and losses principally occur during the early stages of the food value chain and can be traced back to constraints on harvesting techniques and deficient storage facilities. In developed countries, however, food is mainly wasted or lost at a later stage in the supply chain, with the behaviour of consumers having a significant impact. In Europe and North America, for example, per capita food loss and waste amounts to 280-300 kg per year, whereas in sub-Saharan Africa and South and South-East Asia it amounts to 120-170 kg per year. Food waste has a considerable environmental impact, with the vast amount of food going to landfills adding to global warming.23
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In 2008, the Human Rights Council adopted its first resolution on human rights and climate change (resolution 7/23). As a result, OHCHR was requested to conduct an analytical study on the relationship between climate change and human rights (A/HRC/10/61). Subsequently, resolutions 10/4 and 18/22 were adopted in 2009 and 2011, in which the Council emphasized that climate change had a range of negative impacts on the human rights to life, adequate food, the highest attainable standard of health, adequate housing, self-determination, development and safe drinking water and sanitation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Climate change is not only impacting on food security but rising carbon dioxide emissions are causing harm to staple food crops, reducing their nutrient content for the 280 million malnourished people in the world. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health estimates that 2 billion people suffer from zinc and iron deficiencies, resulting in a loss of 63 million lives annually from malnutrition. Africa today has more children with stunted growth than it did 20 years ago, with up to 82 per cent of cases improperly treated. That poses a huge threat to the future of the continent and access to food rich in nutrients has become imperative.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Children
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- The threat posed by climate change to fresh water supplies, combined with the overuse of water in agriculture, is having a detrimental impact on food security. The consequent effects on food production are significant, putting the livelihoods of rural communities and the food security of city dwellers at risk. With the global population expected to increase to 9.5 billion by 2050, the world's food calorie production will need to increase by 68 per cent in order to meet growing demand.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- The most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change16 suggests that climate change will "more likely than not" depress crop yields by more than 5 per cent by 2050. In addition, there is increased certainty about the effects of climate volatility on agricultural production and practices, with climate change shocks principally affecting smallholder agriculture, where the absence of crop insurance translates into adversity to risk. The report further acknowledges that climate change will have significant impacts on non-farm rural livelihoods, as well as tending to increase the risk of violent conflict when the availability of food and water is threatened. FAO has noted that climate change affects the four dimensions of food security: availability, accessibility, utilization and food system stability. It will have an impact on human health, livelihood assets, food production and distribution channels, as well as influencing purchasing power and market flows.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- Climate change is already having a significant impact on approximately 1 billion of the world's poor. In achieving the target set out in Millennium Development Goal 1, poverty rates have been halved, with 700 million fewer people living in extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990. In the Human Development Report 2013, however, the United Nations Development Programme warns that if environmental degradation continues at the current rate, the gains in poverty reduction will be reversed, plunging over 3 billion people into extreme poverty and hunger. Without the implementation of serious measures to combat climate change, the number of people at risk of hunger is projected to increase by 10-20 per cent by 2050.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in May 2013, provided an additional remedial mechanism. It reinforces the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights and places them on an equal footing with civil and political rights. The Optional Protocol is intended to complement rather than replace national legal systems and should not be considered as the principal means of seeking justice. It grants individuals, or groups of individuals under the jurisdiction of a State party, the right to submit communications about alleged violations of any economic, social or cultural right to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Complaint procedures remind Governments of their responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate food.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Despite the scepticism that persists in a number of States, courts in several countries have been proactive in stepping in to prevent situations in which survival was threatened due to government inaction or inefficiency in realizing the right to food. The majority of cases relate to failures by authorities to provide minimum levels of subsistence for affected individuals or communities. The right to food is now enshrined in the constitutions of more than 20 countries, together with legal provisions that allow for judicial protection by invoking the right to life, respect for human dignity, the right to health, the right to land, respect for ethnic and cultural rights, the right to housing and consumer rights.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- General comment No. 12 entails three levels of State obligation, including the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil (paras. 14 and 15). The obligation to respect requires States to refrain from adopting measures that prevent access to adequate food; the obligation to protect requires implementation or enforcement of regulations by States to ensure that third parties do not deprive people of their right to access adequate food; and the obligation to fulfil entails proactive steps to facilitate access to food and strengthen food security. Access to justice in relation to the right to food is also provided for in the recommendations in the Voluntary Guidelines that States should enshrine the right to food in their domestic law, including through the constitution, and provide suitable mechanisms for effective redress in the event of violations of the right to food.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- While the right to food may once have been a controversial "positive" right, it is now enshrined in international law and States are obliged to ensure its progressive realization through ratification of international treaties and the development of supportive domestic and national legislation. However, many countries have failed to develop a judicial culture of recognition in practice, or the necessary legal frameworks required to ensure that the rights enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are justiciable. Accountability at both international and national levels is paramount to ensuring that the right to food and its correlative obligations are being implemented.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- It is the responsibility of all States, individually and through international cooperation and through international trade and investment policies and practices, to take the measures necessary to meet the vital food needs of their people, especially of vulnerable groups and households. It is, therefore, important to recognize the interdependency of food aid, trade liberalization in agriculture, intellectual property rights and agribusiness.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- International human rights treaties and customary law principles oblige all States to protect persons living within their national territory, as well as people who are not the subject of any State sovereignty. The interdependence of international and national obligations in relation to human rights is enshrined in articles 22 and 23 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and specifically expressed in article 11, paragraph 2, on the right to food. Moreover, the Human Rights Council, in resolution 7/14, considered that States should make every effort to ensure that their international policies of a political and economic nature, including international trade agreements, do not have a negative impact on the right to food in other countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- It is in this context that the Special Rapporteur believes the international community should look to the future and establish what more can be done to ensure an enabling environment for people to access food in a dignified manner and to establish applicable remedies for those who are unable to do so. In his final report to the Human Rights Council in March 2014, the previous Special Rapporteur highlighted framework laws and national strategies in support of the realization of the right to food, highlighting a number of countries where examples of good practice exist. The Special Rapporteur intends to assess the experience of those countries and will examine the implementation of such laws at the national level, as a means of identifying possible models for other countries.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- While there has been considerable legislative and judicial progress in many countries throughout the world since the adoption of the Voluntary Guidelines a decade ago, many challenges remain. In order to ensure the progressive realization of the right to food at the domestic level, it is imperative that constitutional principles and framework laws are established as a means of providing an appropriate institutional structure. The adoption of sectoral legislation will ensure that States adequately address various sectors that impact significantly on levels of food security.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- While there have been significant developments in a number of countries in response to the crisis, concerns about price volatility remain, with the world economy showing little sign of stabilizing. Indeed there has been a worrisome rise in local food prices in recent years. Additional steps must be taken at the global level to reduce the risk of future food crises resulting from rapid price increases. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur will continue to monitor the situation and urges States, both individually and collectively, to fulfil their legal obligation under human rights law to do their part in ensuring sustainable access to food for people.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food was established by the Commission on Human Rights in resolution 2000/10. In September 2007, the Human Rights Council, in resolution 6/2, reviewed and extended the mandate for three years. In resolution 6/2, the Council instructed the Special Rapporteur to: (a) promote the full realization of the right to food and the adoption of measures at the national, regional and international levels for the realization of the right to food; (b) examine ways and means of overcoming obstacles to the realization of the right to food; (c) continue mainstreaming a gender perspective and take into account an age dimension in the fulfilment of the mandate; (d) submit proposals that could help the realization of Millennium Development Goal 1; (e) present recommendations on possible steps towards achieving progressively the full realization of the right to food; (f) work in close cooperation with all States, intergovernmental and non governmental organizations, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other relevant actors to take fully into account the need to promote the effective realization of the right to food for all; and (g) continue participating in and contributing to relevant international conferences and events with the aim of promoting the realization of the right to food. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur was subsequently endorsed by the Council in resolutions 13/4 and 22/9, renewing the mandate for periods of three years.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The eradication of hunger and malnutrition is an achievable goal. Reaching it requires, however, that we move away from business as usual and improve coordination across sectors, across time and across levels of governance. Empowering communities at the local level, in order for them to identify the obstacles that they face and the solutions that suit them best, is a first step. This must be complemented by supportive policies at the national level that ensure the right sequencing between the various policy reforms that are needed, across all relevant sectors, including agriculture, rural development, health, education and social protection. In turn, local-level and national-level policies should benefit from an enabling international environment, in which policies that affect the ability of countries to guarantee the right to food - in the areas of trade, food aid, foreign debt alleviation and development cooperation - are realigned with the imperative of achieving food security and ensuring adequate nutrition. Understood as a requirement for democracy in the food systems, which would imply the possibility for communities to choose which food systems to depend on and how to reshape those systems, food sovereignty is a condition for the full realization of the right to food. But it is the paradox of an increasingly interdependent world that this requires deepening the cooperation between States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Indeed, it is now time to move from generous intentions to action. The eradication of hunger and extreme poverty is now placed at the top of the political agenda, and through the new sustainable development goals, monitoring will be strengthened at a global level. Grounding these efforts explicitly in the right to food will encourage all the actors involved in the implementation of these goals to acknowledge their duties towards those who are marginalized economically and politically disempowered, and to address the political economy of food systems - in other terms, the question of who decides, on the basis of what information, and under which accountability mechanisms.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- The ninth Ministerial Conference of WTO, held in Bali, Indonesia, from 3 to 7 December 2013, which failed to place food security above trade concerns, provides a textbook illustration of the need to improve coherence of global governance for the realization of the right to food: no area, not even trade, should be left aside from discussions concerning this paramount objective. The redefinition of the global development goals provides another opportunity to move towards this objective. In the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference, entitled "The future we want", Heads of State and Government reaffirmed their "commitments regarding the right of everyone to have access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger." In its final report of May 2013, the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda proposed to include ensuring "food security and good nutrition" among the universal goals and targets to be agreed, with target 5 (a) referring to ending hunger and protecting the right of everyone to have access to sufficient, safe, affordable and nutritious food. Similar conclusions emerged from the Madrid High-level Consultation on Hunger, Food Security and Nutrition in the Post-2015 Development Framework, convened on 4 April 2013. At its fortieth plenary session, building on this emerging consensus, CFS highlighted "the essential role of food security and nutrition and poverty eradication in the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda", and it mandated its Bureau to ensure this key objective would be reflected in this agenda.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The role of CFS should gain in importance in the future, as we become more aware of the interdependence of efforts at the local, national, regional and global levels, and of the need to accelerate learning. Indeed, just as local-level initiatives cannot succeed without support from national-level right-to-food strategies, efforts at the domestic level require international support to bear fruit. Together with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the Special Rapporteur has argued, for instance, for the establishment of a Global Fund for Social Protection, for overcoming financial obstacles and building international solidarity in order to fulfil the right to food and the right to social protection in developing countries, particularly those where vulnerability to covariant risks such as drought and food price volatility are high. The initiative was presented at the thirty-ninth plenary session of CFS in October 2012, and to the Social Protection Inter-Agency Cooperation Board, as well as in various other forums. The proposal was supported by the European Parliament and was among the key recommendations that emerged from global consultations led by the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The gradual substitution of policies focused on low prices of foodstuffs by rights-based social protection, as a means of ensuring access to adequate food for the poorest groups of the population, again illustrates the importance of a careful sequencing of reforms. Today, 75 to 80 per cent of the world population still does not have access to social security to shield them from the effects of unemployment, illness or disability - not to mention crop failure or soaring food costs. There is now an international consensus in favour of making the full realization of the right to social security a priority. On 12 June 2012, the International Labour Conference adopted Recommendation No. 202 concerning national floors for social protection, with 453 votes in favour and 1 abstention. The G-20 has subsequently acknowledged the importance of this objective. In the long run, the establishment of robust social protection schemes in line with this recommendation should protect not only poor households but also vulnerable households against the risk of falling into poverty. Thus, governments would shift away from their exclusive focus on maintaining low prices of food items, a focus that has often come at the expense of food producers, particularly the least competitive among them. Cash transfers to poor families, such as the Oportunidades programme in Mexico (A/HRC/19/59/Add.2, paras. 21-27), the Bolsa Família in Brazil (A/HRC/13/33/Add.6, para. 33) or the Child Support Grant in South Africa (A/HRC/19/59/Add.3, para. 39), have shown their effectiveness in reducing child poverty, and hunger. As long as gaps remain in social protection, however, food price inflation will continue to be a serious threat to the right to food of low-income households. Thus, while low food prices may not be a long-term solution - both because of the fiscal cost of subsidies to farmers and because a policy focused on keeping prices low may ultimately harm the least competitive food producers - they remain, in the short term, vital. Social protection schemes should be strengthened in all countries, and the social protection agenda and the agricultural agenda should be better aligned with each other, to gradually succeed in making the transition.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- For such strategies to succeed, the careful sequencing of actions matters, requiring strong cross-sectoral coordination. For instance, support to small-scale food producers should be paired with investments in local food packaging and processing industries and in food retail, in order to maximize the benefits to the local economy of the growth of the agricultural sector. Support to small-scale food producers should also go hand in hand with investments in the manufacturing and services sectors for the delivery of consumer items, since increased incomes in rural areas have the potential to raise demand for locally traded goods and services: this "consumption linkage" is estimated to be four to five times more important than the "production" linkage between food producers and agro-processing activities. The multiplier effects are particularly significant where agricultural growth is widely spread across large segments of a very poor population.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Such strategies are a key component for the governance of the transition towards sustainable food systems that can contribute to the eradication of hunger and malnutrition. Indeed, regardless of how innovative they may be, local initiatives can only succeed, and be "scaled out" by successful experiments being replicated across large regions, if they are supported, or at least not obstructed, by policies adopted at the national level. Moreover, poor nutritional outcomes are explained by a range of factors, and combating hunger and malnutrition requires taking into account the full set of immediate, underlying and basic causes, at the individual, household and societal level respectively: this calls for a multisectoral approach, involving the full range of relevant ministries. Finally, because food systems are in need of reform, it is not sufficient to protect existing entitlements or to preserve the status quo. Instead, transformative strategies must be adopted, with a view to guaranteeing access to adequate food for all by simultaneously supporting small-scale food producers' ability to produce food sustainably, improving employment opportunities in all sectors and strengthening social protection.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 39
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has consistently encouraged the adoption of national strategies in support of the progressive realization of the right to adequate food, in line with the recommendations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its general comment No. 12 on the right to adequate food (para. 21) and with guideline 3 of the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security. He was encouraged by the significant progress made in a number of regions, though especially in Latin America and in Africa, towards implementing these recommendations (A/68/288, paras. 42-46).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph