To achieve human rights, start with food - global issues

The seriousness of the situation calls for a holistic approach to tackling hunger. We must adopt a human rights-based approach to apply human rights principles in our efforts. Credit: Patrick Zachmann/Magnum Photos/FAOOpinion by Maximo Torero (Rome)Wednesday 07 December 2022Inter Press Service

ROME, 07 Dec (IPS) – Maximo Torero Cullen is chief economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This year’s Human Rights Day marks the 74th year since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, an international document that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all people. The right to food became a legal obligation for countries to promote and protect in 1966 as part of economic, social and cultural rights.

The fundamental right we all deserve – to be free from hunger – is under threat today as never before. In the midst of numerous global crises such as climate change, pandemics, conflicts, growing inequalities and gender-based violence, more and more people are falling into the hunger trap.

Up to 828 million people suffered from hunger in 2021, an increase of 150 million more people since 2019, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest projections suggest that more than 670 million people may still not have enough to eat by 2030.

It’s a far cry from the “zero hunger” goal that the world aspired to aspire to less than a decade ago. It also shows how deep inequalities run in societies around the world.

There is enough food today to feed everyone in the world. What is missing is the ability to buy food that is available due to high levels of poverty and inequality. The war in Ukraine has made the situation even worse. It has rocked the global energy market, causing food prices to soar even further. This year alone, the food import bills of the world’s 62 most vulnerable countries rose by $25 billion, a 39% increase compared to 2020.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, a health crisis quickly turned into a food crisis as the virus caused shortages of farm workers and threatened to disrupt food supply chains. It has shown us the importance of understanding the interrelated challenges that arise when it comes to meeting growing food needs while protecting environmental, social and economic sustainability, as reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals development is planned.

Eighty percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for survival. Many of them – women, children, indigenous people and people with disabilities – have no access to food and struggle with poor harvests, expensive seeds and fertilizers and a lack of financial services. They are directly affected by the risks and uncertainties our food systems face.

The seriousness of the situation calls for a holistic approach to tackling hunger. We need to fix our broken food systems to make them more inclusive, resilient and sustainable.

This means we must adopt a human rights-based approach to apply human rights principles in our endeavors. International frameworks provide legal and political guidelines for realizing universal, fundamental human rights.

For example, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights states that the right to food is essential to the fulfillment of other human rights. It emphasizes sustainability as food must be accessible to both current and future generations. From availability, accessibility and healthy eating to food safety, consumer protection and states’ obligation to provide adequate food for their populations, it forms the basis for rebuilding our agri-food systems.

Creating a coherent policy and legal framework around these core issues will promote the right to food.

Since human rights are indivisible and interdependent, a human right can only be fully realized when other human rights are also fulfilled. Advocating policies that promote other human rights – such as health, education, water and sanitation, labor and social protection – can also have a positive impact on the right to food.

Human Rights Day demands dignity, freedom and justice for all. Let us recall the crucial role that the right to food plays in realizing these important principles. And without these principles, we cannot reduce poverty or improve the well-being of all.

Food is fundamental to life. And it’s key to strengthening our global efforts to find lasting solutions to today’s challenges.

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