Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 106 entities
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Contract farming is generally associated with the production of commercial crops for export, mono-cropping and forms of production that rely heavily on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, often with adverse repercussions for human health and for soil. None of these consequences, however, are inevitable in contract farming. As already noted, this kind of contractual arrangement between a buyer and a farmer can be used to produce crops for sale on the domestic market and contribute to the strengthening of local markets, and in particular to improving the links between rural producers and urban consumers. Contract farming could and should include incentives for moving towards more diverse farming systems, using a combination of plants, trees and animals according to the principles of agroecology (see A/HRC/16/49). While contract farming often involves the provision of inputs, including mineral fertilizers, by the buyer, it may also include provisions that oblige the producer to comply with certain environmental conditions, for instance more cautious use of pesticides.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In the past, Green Revolution approaches have focused primarily on boosting cereal crops. However, rice, wheat and maize are mainly sources of carbohydrates: they contain relatively little protein, and few of the other nutrients essential for adequate diets. The shift from diversified cropping systems to simplified cereal-based systems thus contributed to micronutrient malnutrition in many developing countries. Indeed, of the over 80,000 plant species available to humans, rice, wheat and maize supply the bulk of our protein and energy needs. Nutritionists now increasingly insist on the need for more diverse agro-ecosystems, in order to ensure a more diversified nutrient output of the farming systems.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- [The research community, including centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research, should:] assess projects on the basis of a comprehensive set of performance criteria (impacts on incomes, resource efficiency, impacts on hunger and malnutrition, empowerment of beneficiaries, etc.) with indicators appropriately disaggregated by population to allow monitoring improvements in the status of vulnerable populations, taking into account the requirements of the right to food, in addition to classical agronomical measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- This is changing. Experts now agree that food systems must ensure the access of all to "sustainable diets", defined as "diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable; nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy; while optimizing natural and human resources". This definition recognizes the need to gear agrifood systems away from an exclusive focus on boosting production and towards integrating the requirements of the adequacy of diets, social equity and environmental sustainability. All these components are essential to achieving durable success in combating hunger and malnutrition, as emphasized by the Special Rapporteur in past reports.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- The agrifood systems must be reshaped to address these challenges of malnutrition-undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and overnutrition-not in isolation, but concurrently. Malnutrition in all its forms cannot be addressed only by a food sciences approach, such as through the provision of ready-to-use therapeutic foods or micronutrient-enriched "health foods" to combat micronutrient deficiency or the negative health impacts of foods high in saturated fats, trans-fatty acids, sodium and sugar ("HFSS" foods). Ensuring adequate availability of and accessibility to fruits and vegetables and diets that are sufficiently diverse and balanced across food groups requires the rebuilding of agrifood systems. This means prioritizing access to adequate diets that are socially and environmentally sustainable over the mere provision of cheap calories. Any intervention seeking to address the diverse forms of malnutrition described above should be assessed against the requirement that it favour, and does not create obstacles to, such a reprioritization.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- The efforts on these fronts must continue. Nutrition interventions should be but one part of broader-based strategies for the realization of the right to adequate food. For example, the provision of fortified foods (enriched to improve nutritional content) may be necessary, where local production is insufficiently diversified and incapable of supplying the full range of foods required for adequate diets. Rebuilding and strengthening local food systems through diversified farming systems to ensure the availability of and accessibility to adequate diets will be more sustainable in the long term. Food systems based on local knowledge and conditions, such as homestead or community gardens, can be a cost-effective way to combat micronutrient deficiency, as demonstrated by examples in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, the Niger and South Africa; such alternative food systems present the additional advantage of increasing local incomes and resilience to price shocks, another pathway through which positive nutritional outcomes can be achieved.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Fourth, potential concerns exist regarding the relationship between solutions that rely on imported technologies and products and the local contexts in which these solutions are applied. Technology has a key role to play in improved nutrition. For instance, the iodization of salt is a cost-effective way to reduce iodine deficiency. Biofortification-the improvement at crop level of the micronutrient content of staples-can provide important benefits for rural populations, improving their access to micronutrient-rich foods produced locally at more affordable prices, as illustrated by the adoption of the orange-fleshed sweet potato in Mozambique that reduced vitamin A deficiency significantly. But such technologies could result in long-term dependency for the communities concerned if protected by intellectual property rights. Moreover, opportunities and market access for local farmers could be reduced if they result in the creation of new markets that are captured by the economic actors introducing such technologies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- In section II, the Special Rapporteur described the considerable growth of non-communicable diseases and preventable deaths in all regions. A wide range of factors explain this evolution. They include tobacco and alcohol use, reduced physical activity linked to urbanization and thus more sedentary lifestyles, and inadequate diets. These avoidable deaths are often attributed to "lifestyle choices"-choices to exercise less, choices to consume more salt, sugars and fats. But the problem is a systemic one. We have created obesogenic environments and developed food systems that often work against, rather than facilitate, making healthier choices. The transformation of agrifood systems plays a major part in this trend.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- What was the result? Between 1961 and 2009, while fruit and vegetable production increased 332 per cent, world oilseed production increased by 610 per cent and meat production increased 372 per cent. This was associated with shifting diets. Over roughly the same period (1963-2003), developing countries increased the amount of calories they consumed from meat (119 per cent), sugar (127 per cent) and vegetable oils (199 per cent), and industrialized countries also increased vegetable oil consumption (105 per cent). Globally, diets became increasingly energy-dense and rich in sugar, salt and saturated fats, as many higher fibre foods were replaced by heavily processed foods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Another impact on diets was through the price channel, by changing the relative prices of foods in the consumer's basket. In high-income countries, healthy diets including a wide range of fruits and vegetables are more expensive than diets rich in oils, sugars and fats. While this may not be the reason why overweight and obesity have been increasing over the years, it is certainly one factor among others responsible for this situation. And it leads to important socio-economic disparities in quality diets. Scientists show a strong correlation between low-education and -income levels and higher rates of obesity, type II diabetes and coronary heart disease.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Second, the globalization of food chains leads to a shift from diets high in complex carbohydrates and fibre to diets with a higher proportion of fats and sugars. As a result of this "nutrition transition," disease patterns shift away from infectious and nutrient-deficiency diseases toward higher rates of coronary heart disease, non-insulin dependent diabetes, some types of cancer and obesity. This trend is particularly noticeable in emerging economies, and the Special Rapporteur studied the mechanisms at work closely in his missions to Brazil, China, South Africa and Mexico. Nutrition transition is accelerated by the expansion of trade in food commodities and by the acceleration of vertical integration in food chains, both of which increase the availability of processed foods.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- These advances remain short of what the situation requires. The emphasis remains largely on demand-side measures, focused on consumers' choices, rather than on the supply side: the range of foods made available to consumers and the prices of different types of food. And commitments remain voluntary. States should protect the right to adequate food by adopting measures that reduce the negative impacts on public health of the existing food systems. Moreover, States should discharge their duty to fulfil the right to adequate food by taking immediate measures to progressively make a transition to more sustainable diets.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- While the agrifood industry is encouraged to produce and develop more healthy foods, very little is said about the need to develop more healthy food systems that can deliver sustainable diets in the holistic sense referred to above. But it is high time to recognize the real tension that exists between a strategy that promotes processed foods, enriched with nutrients to the point that diets become medicalized, and a strategy that promotes local and regional food systems, as well as a shift towards foods that are less heavily processed and thus more nutritious. For reasons of logistics and seasonality, as well as the urbanization of lifestyles, these two strategies must sometimes be combined, as not all foods can be sourced locally or bought in farmers' markets. But priorities must nevertheless be set in public policies. The market for food products cannot expand infinitely, and choices must be made as to which food system to promote.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- As such, States should set binding targets in pursuing a double-track approach: (a) protecting the right to adequate diets; and (b) ensuring a transition towards more sustainable diets. They should ensure accountability, in accordance with the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, by establishing independent monitoring mechanisms and allowing individual victims or organizations to file claims against any failures to take the measures required under the national strategy for the realization of the right to food; this is what distinguishes legal obligations from mere policy commitments. Among the indicators that should be used to monitor the implementation of national strategies to prevent non-communicable diseases, WHO should therefore include the existence of a binding legal framework, clearly allocating responsibilities, and including sanctions where the measures that are pledged are not adopted, and it should include the requirements of participation and non-discrimination that form part of an approach based on human 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
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Combating the different faces of malnutrition requires adopting a life-course approach guaranteeing the right to adequate diets for all, and reforming agricultural and food policies, including taxation, in order to reshape food systems for the promotion of sustainable diets. Strong political will, a sustained effort across a number of years, and collaboration across different sectors, including agriculture, finance, health, education and trade, are necessary for such a transition. In line with these conclusions, the Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The right to food seeks to ensure access to adequate diets. Although access is necessary for individuals to be adequately nourished, it is not the only requirement. Obviously, food availability is also required (which necessitates appropriate functioning of markets to ensure that foodstuffs can travel from the producers to the markets and from food-surplus regions to food-deficit regions). Access to health-care services and sanitation, as well as adequate feeding practices, are also essential. In this regard, the right to food is also closely connected to the right to health and to what is described as adequate "utilization".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Policies aimed at eradicating hunger and malnutrition that are grounded in the right to food shall redefine as legal entitlements benefits that have traditionally been seen as voluntary handouts from States. The right to food requires that schemes providing benefits, whether guaranteeing access to food or promoting agricultural and rural development and national social protection floors, be consolidated into legal entitlements, clearly identifying the beneficiaries and providing them with access to redress mechanisms if they are excluded. In the same spirit, paragraph 7 of International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation No. 202 concerning national floors of social protection provides that "national laws and regulations [establishing basic social security guarantees] should specify the range, qualifying conditions and levels of the benefits giving effect to these guarantees. Impartial, transparent, effective, simple, rapid, accessible and inexpensive complaint and appeal procedures should also be specified. Access to complaint and appeal procedures should be free of charge to the applicant. Systems should be in place that enhance compliance with national legal frameworks".
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 58i
- Paragraph text
- [In particular, the Special Rapporteur encourages:] The FAO Committee on World Food Security to serve as a catalyst to accelerate progress towards the establishment of legal, institutional and policy frameworks that are conducive to the full realization of the right to food for all, and to use the review of the implementation of the Right to Food Guidelines at its forty-first session in 2014 to encourage all member States to make effective use of the right to food to eradicate hunger and malnutrition;
- 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
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- Most stakeholders agree, in general terms, on the urgent need for reform. Measured against the requirement that they should contribute to the realization of the right to food, the food systems we have inherited from the twentieth century have failed. Of course, significant progress has been achieved in boosting agricultural production over the past fifty years. But this has hardly reduced the number of hungry people, and the nutritional outcomes remain poor. Using a new method for calculating undernourishment that began with the 2012 edition of the State of Food Insecurity in the World report, United Nations agencies estimate hunger in its most extreme form to have decreased globally from over 1 billion in 1990-1992, representing 18.9 per cent of the world's population, to 842 million in 2011-2013, or 12 per cent of the population. However, these figures do not capture short-term undernourishment, because of their focus on year-long averages; they neglect inequalities in intra-household distribution of food; and the calculations are based on a low threshold of daily energy requirements that assume a sedentary lifestyle, whereas many of the poor perform physically demanding activities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Globally, livestock production employs 1.3 billion people and sustains livelihoods for about 900 million of the world's poor. As a major source of protein intake, meat and dairy production is a potential component in tackling undernourishment, and there are sustainable modes of meat production. But in high-income countries, the net health impacts of meat consumption are turning negative: at current levels, it is contributing to chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Moreover, the industrial model of cereal-fed livestock production as well as the apparently limitless expansion of pastures is creating problems that must be addressed urgently. In 2006, FAO estimated that grazing occupied an area equivalent to 26 per cent of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the planet, while 33 per cent of total arable land was dedicated to feedcrop production - maize and soybean in particular. Thus, livestock production accounted for 70 per cent of all agricultural land and 30 per cent of the land surface of the planet, and the expansion of pastures and feed crops is a major source of deforestation, especially in Latin America. The FAO study estimated that the livestock sector was responsible for 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent - a larger share than transport. Once livestock respiration and the loss of greenhouse gas reductions from photosynthesis that are foregone by using large areas of land for grazing or feedcrops are taken into account, livestock is found to be responsible for 51 per cent of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, so that a 25 per cent reduction in livestock products worldwide between 2009 and 2017 could result in a 12.5 per cent reduction in global atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions. The precise figures remain debated, but there is no doubt in the scientific community that the impacts of livestock production are massive.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- Many view productivity improvements in agriculture as key to addressing hunger and malnutrition. This approach is still as influential today as it was in the 1960s, in part because of increasing demand for agricultural production (for both food and non-food uses) and the anticipated further increases as a result of population growth, higher incomes, and shifting diets linked to urbanization. Thus, FAO estimated in 2009 that a 70 per cent increase in global agricultural production was required by 2050 in comparison to the levels of 2005-2007, taking into account an annual average growth in gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.4 per cent between 2030 and 2050 and assuming that about 290 million people would still be undernourished by 2050. This estimate was widely cited to justify investments in technology-based solutions to respond to a challenge presented as a primarily quantitative one.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- In its Fifth Assessment Report the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded with high confidence that climate change will have a substantial negative impact on food production and food nutritional quality and on per capita calorie availability. Increased droughts can have severe detrimental impacts on nutrition and rising carbon dioxide emissions are causing harm to staple food crops, reducing their nutrient content, including of zinc (zinc deficiency is responsible for a large number of diseases worldwide). Heavy rainfall may also be linked to lower quality of crops owing to fungal infections. Over time, climate change is set to reduce food quality, decrease water availability and aggravate the prevalence of infectious vector-borne diseases and chronic intestinal infections, while food storage will also become problematic owing to warmer weather. It is estimated that 50-60 per cent of the world population will be exposed to dengue fever by 2085, further degrading their nutritional status.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 83
- Paragraph text
- The imperative to feed the world in a time of climate change resonates strongly with food policymakers and has resulted in a push for large-scale agricultural models to respond to the future demand for food. However, it is has been proven that more food production does not necessarily result in fewer people suffering from hunger and malnutrition. The world has long produced enough food, sufficient not only to meet the caloric requirements of the existing global population of over 7 billion, but also to meet the needs of a population expected to reach 9 billion in 2050. Hunger and malnutrition are a function of economic and social problems, not production. Moreover, not all of the calories produced go to feed humans: one third are used to feed animals, nearly 5 per cent are used to produce biofuels and as much as one third are wasted all along the food chain.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Nutrition labels allow people to make informed decisions on their food options and incentivizes food manufacturers to reformulate their products to target health-conscious consumers. Many countries have mandatory nutrient lists on pre-packaged foods, and some have gone further to implement creative schemes to alert consumers about foods that undermine their nutritional welfare. For example, Australia has adopted a voluntary "health star rating" that rates foods from least to most healthy; Chile has food labels with a "stop sign" warning message when calorie, saturated fat, sugar or sodium limits have been exceeded; and Ecuador requires packaged foods to carry a "traffic light" label indicating fats, sugar and salt by colour. Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden use a voluntary keyhole-shaped logo to flag products containing less fat, salt and sugar, while Finland uses a heart-shaped symbol to indicate which products are better options in terms of sodium content.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- Malnutrition, in all its forms, has become a universal challenge. Today, nearly 800 million people remain chronically undernourished, more than 2 billion suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, and another 600 million are obese. These three forms of malnutrition coexist within most countries, communities and even individuals. Ensuring the right to adequate food extends far beyond merely ensuring the minimum requirements needed for survival and includes access to food that is nutritionally adequate. Increasingly, the right to adequate nutrition is being recognized as an essential element of the right to food and the right to health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Traditionally, undernutrition and "hidden hunger" were considered specific to the developing world, while obesity was commonly perceived to mostly affect developed countries. It is now recognized that different forms of malnutrition coexist within most countries. Obesity rates are increasing in developing nations that are exposed to globalization while undergoing economic transition and urban migration. This is part of the global "nutrition transition", which is seeing a rise in consumption of energy-dense yet nutrient-poor foods, coupled with more sedentary lifestyles. As a consequence, many countries are now confronted with not only undernutrition but also rising rates of obesity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The impact of industrial food systems on nutrition and public health is alarming. Monocropping depends heavily on chemical inputs such as synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, while animals grown on factory farms are given growth hormones and antibiotics. The food processing industry uses preservatives, artificial colourants, additives and other chemicals in order to enhance the appearance, flavour and shelf life of food products. Ultraprocessed foods may also contain high levels of sodium, sugar, trans-fats and saturated fats, so that they are energy dense yet lacking in nutritional value.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph