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Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- In general, food and nutrition security policies continue to treat women primarily as mothers, focusing on the nutrition of infants and young children or pregnant women, rather than addressing constraints on women’s economic and social participation. Teenage mothers, women without children and women of post-reproductive age with specific nutritional needs are generally not considered within those policies, and this must change
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Contract farming has gained importance in recent years in both developed and developing countries. Buyers see it as a means of strengthening control down the supply chain in order to respond to an increased need for production traceability and food product standardization, as quality and food safety standards have gained in importance and as consumers express concerns about the environmental and social aspects of production. Controlling contracted farmers to prevent extra-contractual marketing or the diversion of inputs received for uses other than crop production under the contract may be costly, but the costs are generally offset by the improved reliability and more consistent quality of supplies compared with products purchased on the open market. Contract farming can minimize firms' risks with respect to changes in supply and demand and allows firms to promote safety standards and other quality requirements. Contracts also enable firms to schedule the delivery of products at optimal times for their business, something that they cannot control when relying on the spot market.
- 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
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to land and the right to food 2010, para. 43a (ii)
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur also makes the following recommendations to the international community:] Establish adequate governance instruments to operationalize the commitments set out in the Final Declaration of the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. The Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land and other Natural Resources could make a significant contribution, provided that they: Provide for the systematic and comprehensive interpretation of existing provisions of international human rights and environmental law that protect the rights of land users in all categories, whether indigenous peoples or other rural groups such as peasants, pastoralists and fisherfolk. The international recognition of the rights of these groups is scattered among various instruments and lacks systematic interpretation. The FAO Committee on World Food Security could also play an important role by: a. Establishing a mechanism for follow-up to the Conference commitments; b. Commissioning an independent review by the Committee's High-level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of best practices in agrarian reform;
- 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
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Right to food and nutrition 2016, para. 91
- Paragraph text
- Several helpful initiatives exist to assist policymakers in ensuring nutrition accountability. For example, the WHO global database on the implementation of nutrition action set forth national policy actions and strategies to eliminate all forms of malnutrition. Similarly, the International Network for Food and Obesity/ Non Communicable Diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS), an international collaboration of universities and global non governmental organizations, seeks to monitor, benchmark and support actions to create healthy food environments and reduce diet-related non-communicable diseases. It uses the healthy food environment policy index to monitor government actions. While currently at the pilot-testing stage, such tools will assist civil society in holding Governments and the food industry to greater account for creating healthier food environments. The Nourishing Framework, created by World Cancer Research Fund International, is an interactive tool to promote healthy diets, allowing a selection and tailoring of policy options for different populations. Finally, WHO regional offices have developed regional nutrient profiling models, which can be used in policymaking to improve the overall nutritional quality of diets.
- 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
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Recent years have witnessed various attempts to regulate the impact of business activities on human rights outside of the territorial boundaries of the home State. Notably the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (2011) underlined that States "should set out clearly the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction respect human rights throughout their operations" and clarified the responsibility of TNCs and other business enterprises to respect human rights. Similarly The United Nations Global Compact (2000) urges TNCs to respect workers' rights and human rights; and the OECD Guidelines call on enterprises to respect human rights. In 2011, a group of experts in international law and human rights adopted the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which provide that States are responsible for violations of economic, social and cultural rights by non-State actors, including corporations in cases where these non-State actors act under the instructions or direct control of the State, or are empowered by the State to exercise elements of governmental authority.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to justice and the right to food: the way forward 2015, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- The constitutional jurisprudence of India provides for the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights based on "the right to life". This constitutional right was central to the case of People's Union for Civil Liberties ("PUCL") v. Union of India. In mid-2001, public food and employment programmes failed to provide food to deprived people in the impoverished and drought-stricken State of Rajasthan. The Supreme Court of India was petitioned by PUCL to compel the Government to respond to the hunger emergency. In response to the submissions, the Supreme Court held that the right to food was enshrined in the Constitution under the right to life provision in article 47, which requires that the State undertake measures to improve the nutritional state of the population. The Court handed down a series of resolutions which commenced in 2001 requiring State governments in India to implement food distribution programmes for the most disadvantaged. The Court's resolution had a considerable impact on the realization of the right to food in India, and provides an example of the influential role played by the judiciary in encouraging a legislative body to develop human rights legislation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 108
- Paragraph text
- Civil society should inform the general public about adverse impact of pesticides on human health and environmental damage, as well as organizing training programmes on agroecology.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107p
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Provide incentives for organically produced food through subsidies and financial and technical assistance, as well as by using public procurement;
- 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
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Integrating a gender perspective in the right to food 2016, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- Moreover, agricultural labour is one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work, particularly for women. It is physically demanding and safety standards are often low or non-existent, and protective equipment and clothing are often designed with men in mind. Women are also most often engaged on a piecework basis, which motivates them to put their health at risk to complete as much work as possible. In Guatemala, allegations of serious breaches of this kind were received by the UN Country Office in 2014, referring to the widespread practice of tying wages to productivity goals, which in turn affected women proportionally more, as they were often forced to work in an unrecognized manner, helping the men reach those goals. Women agricultural workers also face rights violations related to their reproductive roles. Exposure to certain chemicals used in agriculture can cause spontaneous abortions, premature births and affect child and infant development through exposure to toxic chemicals in utero and also by way of breastmilk. As a result of discriminatory hiring practices, women often hide their pregnancies and employers often hire women on short-term contracts in order to avoid paying maternity benefits.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Impact of climate change on the right to food 2015, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Recent evidence from the REDD-plus mechanism shows that smallholder coffee farmers and forest communities can make a significant contribution to the mitigation of climate change. However, existing mechanisms have failed to offer effective avenues for benefiting these actors and in some cases even threaten to undermine their livelihoods. The principal method for compensating these actors would be a system of carbon credits; however, such a system is unlikely to be suitable to support the mitigation potential of traditional agriculture given the high transaction costs and low returns. In some cases, participating in the REDD-plus process has backfired terribly. For example, according to reports received, the indigenous Dayak community, which participated in the Kalimantan Forests and Climate Partnership through the REDD-plus process, lost access to the forest and its resources and questions have been raised as to whether the project adhered to the requirement of prior informed consent. Similarly, a massive palm oil farm in Cameroon has inflamed tensions between locals, investors and the State as a result of environmental destruction and resource conflicts as well as uncertainties about who will ultimately be the beneficiary of the carbon credits.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Year
- 2015
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- On the one hand, food systems must be reshaped in order to be more inclusive of small-scale food producers, who have generally been disadvantaged in the past, both as a result of inequitable food chains and because agricultural technologies have not taken into account their specific needs. With this aim in mind, the Special Rapporteur noted the importance of addressing imbalances of power in food chains, in particular by regulating buyer power in situations where dominant positions may be a source of abuse: this has been an entirely forgotten dimension of the reforms that have been promoted since 2008 (A/HRC/9/23, paras. 35-38; and A/HRC/13/33). He also sought to define the conditions under which contract farming - based on long-term agreements between agricultural producers and buyers - could benefit small-scale farmers, suggesting a variety of business models that could usefully be implemented to support the inclusion of small-scale food producers in the food systems (A/66/262) and noting the importance of supporting farmers' organizations. He called for reforming a regime of intellectual property rights on plant varieties that can make commercially bred varieties inaccessible to the poorest farmers in low-income countries (A/64/170).
- 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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The transformative potential of the right to food 2014, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The right to food is the right of every individual, alone or in community with others, to have physical and economic access at all times to sufficient, adequate and culturally acceptable food that is produced and consumed sustainably, preserving access to food for future generations. Individuals can secure access to food (a) by earning incomes from employment or self-employment; (b) through social transfers; or (c) by producing their own food, for those who have access to land and other productive resources. Through these channels, which often operate concurrently, each person should have access to a diet that "as a whole contains a mix of nutrients for physical and mental growth, development and maintenance, and physical activity that are in compliance with human physiological needs at all stages throughout the life cycle and according to gender and occupation". Thus, the normative content of the right to food can be summarized by reference to the requirements of availability, accessibility, adequacy and sustainability, all of which must be built into legal entitlements and secured through accountability mechanisms. The Special Rapporteur's country missions have been situated within this analytical framework.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision of the mandate 2014, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In setting out the mandate of the Special Rapporteur in resolution 6/2, the Human Rights Council encouraged close cooperation with all stakeholders, including non-State actors. Accordingly, during her first month in office, the Special Rapporteur held consultations on a preliminary and informal basis with representatives from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), academic experts and representatives of member States and civil society organizations based in Geneva. She also had occasion to meet with representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), including the Director-General, members of the senior management team and members of the team working on the right to food, as well as the Chair of the Committee on World Food Security and members of the Bureau and Advisory Group of the Committee. The Special Rapporteur wishes to express her gratitude to those with whom she met and appreciates their warm welcome. She is encouraged by the dedication of many States, organizations and individuals working towards the eradication of hunger and the realization of the right to adequate food and she looks forward to cooperating with all stakeholders on issues relevant to her mandate over the coming years.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The emergence of a global right to food movement is an opportunity to be seized. Together with the adoption of framework laws on the right to food and of rights-based national food strategies, it represents a chance to move towards policies that are designed in a more participatory fashion and are therefore better informed and reach all intended beneficiaries; that guarantee legal entitlements and are therefore monitored by the beneficiaries themselves; that ensure the appropriate coordination and synergies - between the short-term aim of eradicating hunger and the long-term objective of removing its causes, between different sectors of government, and between the local and the national levels. The right to food has come to the fore as Governments realize that their efforts to combat food insecurity and hunger have been failing and realize the urgent need to strengthen national legal, institutional and policy frameworks. As the examples highlighted in the present report show, the tools are starting to be put into use. However, additional steps must be taken to make effective and sustainable progress in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.
- 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
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Latin America has been leading the movement towards the adoption of framework laws in support of the realization of the right to food. Food and nutrition security laws grounded in the right to food have been adopted in rapid succession in Argentina (2003), Guatemala (2005), Ecuador (2006 and 2009), Brazil (2006), Venezuela (2008), Colombia (2009), Nicaragua (2009) and Honduras (2011). Most recently, following the launch in Mexico of the "Crusade against Hunger" - itself anchored in the right to food as inserted in the Constitution in 2011 - and after the Legislative Assembly of the Federal District of Mexico adopted a framework law in 2009, a decree adopted on 22 January 2013 by the Secretariat of Social Development established the National System for the Crusade against Hunger. The decree creates the Interministerial Commission for the Implementation of the Crusade against Hunger (composed of 19 ministerial departments/institutions); establishes a National Council of the Crusade against Hunger, an inclusive body allowing for a permanent dialogue with the private and social sectors, the academic community and international actors; and creates community committees composed of beneficiaries of social programmes.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Assessing a decade of progress on the right to food 2013, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Despite the significant progress made in recent years, some dimensions of the right to food remain underdeveloped. This is especially the case as regards its extraterritorial dimensions. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the duties associated with the right to food extend to all situations, whether located on a State's national territory or abroad, over which a State may exercise influence without infringing on the sovereignty of the territorial State (see E/C.12/2000/4, para. 39, E/C.12/2002/11, para. 31 and E/C.12/2011/1). This is reaffirmed in the Maastricht Principles on the extraterritorial obligations of States in the area of economic, social and cultural rights, adopted by a group of international law experts on 28 September 2011, as well as in the Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, endorsed by the Human Rights Council on 27 September 2012 (see A/HRC/21/39, para. 61). Yet, the mechanisms allowing victims of violations of the right to food in extraterritorial situations are often non-existent or hardly accessible in practice. On the whole, however, the examples above show a remarkable progress of the right to food since the Right to Food Guidelines were adopted.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to an adequate diet: the agriculture-food-health nexus 2012, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In addition to encouraging Governments to adopt national plans to scale up nutrition in their various sectoral policies, SUN includes the establishment of partnerships linking business, civil society and Government to foster scaling up nutrition through nutrition-sensitive interventions along the value chain at the country level. Private-sector interventions include the production of fortified food products, the promotion of nutritionally healthy behaviour, the shaping of work environments allowing women to ensure good nutrition for themselves and their children, ensuring that lower-income groups can access nutritionally valuable products, and building local capacity through the transfer of knowledge and technology. Some of these partnerships are supported by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). A public-private partnership, GAIN was launched at the 2002 special session of the General Assembly on children. It has since established links with 600 companies across 36 large projects in more than 25 countries to improve access to missing micronutrients in diets. According to GAIN promoters, it reaches nearly 400 million people with nutritionally enhanced food products.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- This report focuses on the vertical dimension of scaling up agroecology, namely, the establishment of an enabling framework - although this is both a condition and a driver of horizontal scaling up. Governments have a key role to play in this regard, beyond supporting access to land, water and seeds for small-scale farmers. This section identifies a number of principles that could support the scaling up of agroecological practices. Encouraging a shift towards sustainable agriculture may be a delicate process associated with transition costs, since farmers must learn new techniques that move away from the current systems, which are more specialized, less adaptive, and have a lower innovation capacity. Therefore, the following principles should be applied with flexibility. The incentive structures which such policies create to encourage the shift towards sustainable farming should be regularly tested and re-evaluated with the participation of the beneficiaries, transforming policy into a mode of "social learning rather than an exercise of political authority." The move towards agroecology should be based on the farmers themselves - its main beneficiaries. Agroecological techniques are best spread from farmer to farmer, since they are often specific to an agroecological zone.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Acroecology and the right to food 2011, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Agroecological approaches can be labour-intensive during their launching period, due to the complexity of the tasks of managing different plants and animals on the farm, and recycling the waste produced. However, research shows that the higher labour-intensity of agroecology is a reality particularly in the short term. In addition, while labour-saving policies have generally been prioritized by governments, creation of employment in rural areas in developing countries, where underemployment is currently massive, and demographic growth remains high, may constitute an advantage rather than a liability and may slow down rural-urban migration. Moreover, the cost of creating jobs in agriculture is often significantly lower than in other sectors: in Brazil, data from INCRA, the agency responsible for land reform, showed that each job generated in a settlement costs the government 3.640 USD, while the cost would be 128 per cent more expensive in industry, 190 per cent more in trade, and 240 per cent more in services. According to peasant organizations, agroecology is also more attractive to farmers, because it procures pleasant features for those working the land for long hours, such as shade from trees or the absence of smell and toxicity from chemicals.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Contract farming should increasingly seek to promote agroecological forms of production and provide adequate knowledge as well as biological inputs. Contract farming will increase its sustainability if it is based on sustainable, knowledge-intensive modes of production that rely on on-farm fertility generation and pest management rather than on external inputs. Where the contract provides for highly input-intensive modes of production, specific requirements should ensure that the reliance of the producer on external inputs (in particular, improved varieties of seeds and chemical fertilizers) does not lead to a situation of increased dependency for the contracting farmer: (a) when inputs are provided by the buyer, reasonable prices should be charged, never exceeding commercial prices; (b) farmers should be offered the possibility of seeking insurance to protect them from changes in the price of the inputs they are sold; and (c) other forms of support, particularly technical advice, should be prioritized, ensuring that sustainable practices are tested and promoted, including biological control, composting, polycropping or agroforestry.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Human rights criteria for making contract farming and other business models inclusive of small-scale farmers 2011, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- To satisfy the first condition above and because small-scale farmers are in a comparatively weaker bargaining position, they should have the opportunity to contribute to the wording of contract provisions, ensuring that the contracts reflect the farmers' needs and that obligations are written in terminology that the farmers will understand. Farmers' organizations may have a key role to play in supporting the negotiation of contracts and in providing advice, and the bargaining position of farmers is strengthened by their being organized in cooperatives that negotiate on behalf of the members. This also lowers the transaction costs for buyers, and may reduce the risk of farmer defaults by providing group lending and improved communication. Once contracts are drafted, farmers must be provided with a copy of the contract. In the case of illiterate parties, the written contract should be reviewed by farmers' representatives, a farmers' organization or a supporting non governmental organization. Copies should also be made available to relevant governmental agencies to ensure appropriate oversight and reduce the risk of abusive clauses.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Access to land and the right to food 2010, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Individual titling appears to matter less to the poor than security of tenure, reflecting the fact that "[a]t low levels of income and in the absence of other social security mechanisms, land serves as a social safety net for the rural poor and provides them their basic means of livelihood". In other words, while security of land tenure and recognition of land rights may correspond to strong demand, as illustrated by a number of country experiences, the same cannot be said of individual titling and the alienability of land. On the contrary, the limiting of land sales can protect smallholders from pressure to cede their land; it can also protect use rights regarding communal land and preserve communal forms of land management. There is growing experience with the use of low-cost, accessible tools for recording local land rights, or at least land transactions, to ensure security of tenure through the recognition of use rights rather than full ownership. Examples include the "Plan foncier rural", implemented in Benin and tested in Burkina Faso, and the $1 registration process leading to the issuance of certificates in some Ethiopian states. An interesting illustration of the decentralized management of land rights is Law 2005-019 of Madagascar, setting forth the status of land.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107o
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Encourage farmers to adopt agroecological practices to enhance biodiversity and naturally suppress pests, and to adopt measures such as crop rotation, soil fertility management and crop selection appropriate for local conditions;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107k
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Take necessary measures to safeguard the public’s right to information, including enforcing requirements to indicate the type of pesticides used and level of residues on the labels of food and drink products;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107h
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Closely monitor agricultural pesticide use and storage to minimize risks and ensure that only those with the requisite training are permitted to apply such products, and that they do so according to instructions and using appropriate protective equipment;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107g
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Guarantee rigorous and regular analysis of food and beverages to determine levels of hazardous residues, including in infant formula and follow-on foods, and make such information accessible to the public;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107c
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Establish impartial and independent risk-assessment and registration processes for pesticides, with full disclosure requirements from the producer. Such processes must be based on the precautionary principle, taking into account the hazardous effects of pesticide products on human health and the environment;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107b
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Establish systems to enable various national agencies responsible for agriculture, public health and the environment to cooperate efficiently to address the adverse impact of pesticides and to mitigate risks related to their misuse and overuse;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph