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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
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
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
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
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. 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
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 107a
- Paragraph text
- [States should:] Develop comprehensive national action plans that include incentives to support alternatives to hazardous pesticides, as well as initiate binding and measurable reduction targets with time limits;
- 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. 106d
- Paragraph text
- [The international community must work on a comprehensive, binding treaty to regulate hazardous pesticides throughout their life cycle, taking into account human rights principles. Such an instrument should:] Place strict liability on pesticide producers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 106c
- Paragraph text
- [The international community must work on a comprehensive, binding treaty to regulate hazardous pesticides throughout their life cycle, taking into account human rights principles. Such an instrument should:] Promote 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. 106b
- Paragraph text
- [The international community must work on a comprehensive, binding treaty to regulate hazardous pesticides throughout their life cycle, taking into account human rights principles. Such an instrument should:] Generate policies to reduce pesticide use worldwide and develop a framework for the banning and phasing-out of highly hazardous pesticides;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 104
- Paragraph text
- While efforts to ban and appropriately regulate the use of pesticides are a necessary step in the right direction, the most effective, long-term method to reduce exposure to these toxic chemicals is to move away from industrial agriculture.
- 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. 98
- Paragraph text
- Replacing highly hazardous pesticides with less hazardous pesticides is necessary and overdue but not a sustainable solution, as many pesticides initially considered relatively “benign” are later found to pose very serious health and environmental risks.
- 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. 96
- Paragraph text
- Despite their widespread use, chemical pesticides have not achieved reduction in crop losses in the last 40 years. This has been attributed to their indiscriminate and non-selective use, killing not only pests but also their natural enemies and insect pollinators. Efficacy of chemical pesticides is also greatly reduced owing to pesticide resistance over time.
- 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. 95
- Paragraph text
- Agroecological farming can help secure livelihoods for smallholder farmers and those living in poverty, including women, because there is no heavy reliance on expensive external inputs. If properly managed, biodiversity and efficient use of resources can enable smallholder farms to be more productive per hectare than large industrial farms (A/HRC/16/49).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 92
- Paragraph text
- Agroecology, considered by many as the foundation of sustainable agriculture, replaces chemicals with biology. It is the integrative study of the ecology of the entire food system, encompassing ecological, economic and social dimensions. It promotes agricultural practices that are adapted to local environments and stimulate beneficial biological interactions between different plants and species to build long-term fertility and soil health.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- 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. 84
- Paragraph text
- Pesticide waste is also a major challenge. There are thousands of tonnes of obsolete pesticides around the world, some of which are nearly 30 years old, presenting a major health hazard, particularly in developing countries. Existing data indicate that more than 20 per cent of obsolete pesticide stockpiles consist of persistent organic pollutants, which are highly toxic and made up of organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation.
- 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. 77
- Paragraph text
- Personal protective equipment may be unsuitable for local working conditions, for example extreme heat and humidity, steep terrain and thick vegetation. Other factors may include pressure to work as fast as possible, lack of training on the health risks of exposure or trainings conducted in non-native languages, coupled with high turnover of workers.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- Pesticide companies and Governments often argue that exposure risk to pesticides is generally low if personal protective equipment is properly used. Yet in reality, compliance with recommended personal protective equipment practices is generally low, for a number of reasons.
- 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. 59
- Paragraph text
- The Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is also relevant to the regulation of pesticides and derives many of its core obligations from human rights law. Article 1 sets out detailed obligations with respect to the matters covered by the Convention.
- 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
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants provides for global prohibitions and restrictions for a certain set of hazardous pesticides. However, while the treaty has expanded from banning or restricting the use of an initial set of 12 largely obsolete industrial chemicals and pesticides, its coverage is still limited and many highly hazardous pesticides do not fall within its scope.
- 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. 45
- Paragraph text
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child also includes specific provisions to protect children from environmental contaminants and supports childhood development. Article 6 highlights the obligation of Governments, to the maximum extent possible, to ensure that children survive and develop in a healthy manner.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- In its general comment, the Committee furthermore asserts that sustainability is intrinsically linked to the notion of adequate food, implying that food must be accessible for both present and future generations. As outlined in the present report, pesticides are responsible for biodiversity loss and water and soil contamination and for negatively affecting the productivity of croplands, thereby threatening future food production.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Water contamination can be equally damaging. In Guatemala, for example, contamination of the Pasión River with the pesticide malathion, used on palm oil plantations, killed thousands of fish and affected 23 species of fish. This in turn deprived 12,000 people in 14 communities of their primary source of food and livelihood.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Effects of pesticides on the right to food 2017, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- Pesticides contaminate and degrade soil to varying degrees. In China, recent studies released by the Government show moderate to severe contamination from pesticides and other pollutants on 26 million hectares of farmland, to the extent that farming cannot continue on approximately 20 per cent of arable land.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- 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. 32
- Paragraph text
- Pesticides can persist in the environment for decades and pose a global threat to the entire ecological system upon which food production depends. Excessive use and misuse of pesticides result in contamination of surrounding soil and water sources, causing loss of biodiversity, destroying beneficial insect populations that act as natural enemies of pests and reducing the nutritional value of food.
- 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. 30
- Paragraph text
- Certain pesticides, such as organotins, accumulate and magnify through marine food web systems. As a result, people who depend on or consume greater amounts of seafood tend to have particularly high concentrations in their blood, causing significant health risks.
- 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