A/69/275 dedication of many States, organizations and individuals working towards the eradication of hunger and the realization of the right to adequate fo od and she looks forward to cooperating with all stakeholders on issues relevant to her mandate over the coming years. 5. Since the establishment of the mandate in 2000, a number of important issues have been addressed by the Special Rapporteur ’s predecessors, including the impact of trade agreements, agroecology and alternative farming methods as a means of maintaining access to land. Legal, policy and institutional frameworks related to the right to food have also been analysed, with examples of best prac tice providing the basis of many of the recommendations made to States in relation to their obligation to protect the right to an adequate diet. The right of vulnerable groups to access adequate food has also been addressed by previous mandate holders, as has the impact of agriculture on climate change. 6. The global food crisis of 2008, which resulted in dramatic increases in food prices worldwide, provided the inaugural backdrop of the mandate of the previous Special Rapporteur. Given the circumstances at the time, when all major food commodities had reached their highest prices in nearly 50 years, he commenced his mandate by exploring the root causes of the crisis and advocated structural measures to prevent a recurrence of any future threats to food secu rity (see A/HRC/9/23 and A/HRC/12/31). 7. 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. 1 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 resultin g 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. II. Overview of the mandate 8. In its general comment No. 12 (1999) on the right to adequate food, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights defined the necessary elements required for the right to food (i.e., the possibility either to feed oneself directly from productive land or other natural resources, or to purchase food) as follows: (a) availability; (b) accessibility; and (c) adequacy. Availability relates to the presence of sufficient food on the market to meet population needs. Accessibility refers to both physical and economic access: physical accessibility means that food should be accessible to all persons, including the physically vulnerable, such as children, older persons and persons with a disability; economic accessibility means that food should be affordable without compromising other basic needs, such as education, health care or housing. Adequacy requires that food satisfy dietary needs (factoring in a person’s age, living conditions, health, occupation, sex and so on), be safe for human consumption, free of adverse substances, culturally acceptable and nutritious. __________________ 1 4/18 Yilmaz Ayküz, “Waving or drowning: developing countries after the financial crisis”, South Centre, research paper No. 48, June 2013. 14-58889