Responsibility and Obligation: The Right to Food

In this post I consider the main rights, obligations and responsibilities of right-holders and duty-bearers. The idea of International human rights instruments is to protect the rights of individuals and groups vis-à-vis state governments that have ratified the various agreements, declarations and covenants. When it comes to the right to food, people have the right to access adequate food or the means to procure it.  Because human rights are interrelated, the full realization of the right to adequate food can depend on the realization of other human rights, for example, land, labour, health and education.

The Right to Adequate Food

International law recognizes every person’s right to food and the fundamental right to be free from hunger. The Voluntary Guidelines on the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security were adopted unanimously by the governing council of the FAO in 2004, representing the first time that the there was agreement on the meaning of the right amongst states. The Right to Adequate Food is outlined into the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The main concepts of the right to food include:

1. Availability: Ability to feed yourself and your family directly from productive lands and other natural resources or from markets and stores.
2. Adequate: You have enough food to satisfy dietary needs throughout your lifecycle. This takes into account needs linked to gender, age, occupation, and culture.
   1. To be adequate, food must not contain adverse substances (as outlined or established by international standards agencies).
   2. Must include values relates to food preparation and consumption.
3. Accessibility:
   1. Economic accessibility: household or personal financial means to attain food for an adequate diet.
   2. Physical accessibility: food is available to everywhere, everywhere (rural, urban).
4. Stability: Availability and accessibility must be guaranteed in a stable manner.

Human Rights for Development

Despite the limitations and problems associated with development, the term and associated actions are present and ongoing. Approaching “development” cautiously then, let us consider what a human rights approach means for development. Does it help address some of the concerns outlined by Estava? The FAO uses the acronym PANTHER to coordinated a development approach that is consistent with human rights.

• Participation
• Accountability
• Non-discrimination and attention to vulnerable groups
• Transparency
• Human Dignity
• Empowerment
• Rule of law