Borb

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Right to Food, Food Security and Food Sovereignty

• Borbála Simonyi
• Enlarging Fair Project
• 1st training session
• Malta, 6th December 2008

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The recent food crisis a system crisis

• Already before, more than 800 million starving
• Extreme climate
• Commodities speculation
• Pledges by world leaders more of the same
  medicin
• Eradication of hunger will not work without
  putting human rights first

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Human rights a better basis for global trade
rules

• Universal, indivisible and interdependent
• Legally binding on all states
• Emphasise equality and non-discrimination
• Principles of participation, accountability,
  transparency
• International and extraterritorial obligations
  implied
• Not associated with one type of economical system

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WTO in conflict with human rights?

• Discourages state intervention
• Uses a trade yardstick
• Ignores the most vulnerable groups
• Focuses on dictating one economic model instead
  of outcomes
• Lack of participation and transparency

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Governments obligations in relations to human
rights

• Respect ensure no policy interferes with HRs
• Protect enforcing policies to prevent actors
  from interfering with HRs
• Fulfil progressive realisation special
  programmes targeting the most vulnerable groups
• In our globalised world extraterritorial
  obligations

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The evolution of the concept of RtF

• Recognised in the UNHR 1948
• Included in the International Covenant on
  Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• 1996 World Food Sumit
• General Comment 12 by the UN Committee on
  Economic Social and Cultural Rights access to
  means of production
• 2000 UN Special Rapporteur on the RtF
• 2002 WFS5
• 2004 FAO council Voluntary Guidelines

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• The right to adequate food is realised when
  every man, woman and child , alone or in
  community with others has physical and economic
  acces at all times to adequate food or means for
  its procurement in ways consistent with human
  dignity
• General Comment, 12, the Right to Adequate Food

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The Right to Food

• Availability of food in quantity and quality
  sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of
  individuals free from adverse substances and
  culturally acceptable
• Accessibility of such food in ways that are
  sustainable and that do not interfere with the
  enjoyment of other human rights

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Evolution of the Food Security concept

• Used since the end of the 70s
• in context of UN agencies
• At first global food security
• 1979 national food security
• Focusing on availability of food supply, thus
  production oriented policies
• 1981 Amartya Sen Poverty and Famines access to
  food
• Access of individuals to food, household/individua
  l food security

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Right to Food vs. Food security

• Food Security focuses more on access to
  food/purchasing food vs. RtF and Food sovereignty
  on access to productive resources
• States a technical goal which states work for but
  no means to hold them accountable
• Still a bias towards availability of food vs. The
  Rtf which starts from individual entitlement
• Doesnt ask the how? question dignity
• Common point economical access to food

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Food Sovereignty

• Political concept
• Alternative policy framework as a
• Challenge to the mainstream liberal trade-based
  food security paradigm
• Using rights language to support political demands

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Evolution of the Food Sovereignty concept

• 1996 World Food Summit Via Campesina
• Several other NGO/CSO fora to follow
• Paralel events/public consultations to FAO
  meetings
• Paralel protest meetings to WTO negotiations
  Seattle, Cancún, Hong-Kong, etc
• International Fora for Food Sovereignty Havana,
  Colombia
• Nyéléni Forum in Mali, 2007

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Definition of IPC, 2004

• Food Sovereignty is the right of individuals,
  communities, peoples and countries to define
  their own agricultural, labour, fishing, food and
  land policies, which are ecologically, sociall,
  economically and culturally appropiate to their
  unique circumstances. It includes the true right
  to food and to produce food, which means that all
  people have the right to safe, nutritious and
  culturally appropiate food and to food-producing
  resources and the ability to sustain themselves
  and their societies.

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Six pillars of Food Sovereignty

• Focuses on food for people
• Values food providers
• Localises food systems
• Puts control locally
• Builds knowledge and skills
• Works with nature

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Policy proposals emerging from the concept

• Code of Conduct on the Human Right to Food
• International Convention on Food Sovereignty
• World Commission on Sustainable Agriculture
• Reformed and strengthened United Nations
• Independent dispute settlement mechanism
• International treaty to define the rights of
  smallholder farmers

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Potential of Food Sovereignty policies against
hunger and poverty national level

• Marginalisation
• Access to productive resources and land policy
• Budget allocation
• Rural employment
• Other policy areas

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FS policies against hunger poverty
-international

• Prices/dumping
• Markets lack on physical access, standards,
  concentration
• Policy space WTO, IMF, WB

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Challenges to the FS policy framework

• From the current dominant development paradigm
• Production-oriented focus on global food security
• The use of the term sovereignty
• In the same time asking for more global
  governance
• Several proposals for new international legal
  instruments feasible?
• Confused use of the rights language

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Literature

• Michal Windfuhr Jennie Jonsen (FIAN) Food
  Sovereignty. Towards Democracy in Localised Food
  Systems. http//www.ukabc.org/foodsovpaper.htm
• Carin Smaller Sophia Murphy (IATP) Bridging
  the Divide a human rights visvion for global
  foor trade. http//www.iatp.org/iatp/publications.
  cfm?refid104458

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Useful links

• Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
  www.iatp.org
• United Kingdom Network for Agricultural
  Biodiversity www.ukabc.org
• International Planning Committee on FS
  www.foodsovereignty.org
• Website of Jean Ziegler www.righttofood.org
• La Via Campesina www.viacampesina.org
• FIAN International www.foodfirst.org
• Our World is not for Sale Network www.owinfs.org