Humanelaw

Right to Food is a human right i.e. access to adequate food is the fundamental right of humans.

 It protects the right of all human beings to live in self-respect, free from food uncertainty, starvation and malnutrition.

The right to food is a human right derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). ICESCR has given the definition for the right to food in its General Comment 12, 1999, Para 6, which states that the right to sufficient food is realized when every woman, man and child, alone or in society with others, have the physical and economic access always to adequate food or means for its procurement.

In 2002, UN Special Rapporteur (People working on behalf of United Nations to study, observe and suggest solutions to human rights problems) defined the right to food in its Section A/HRC/7/5 as the rights given to human to have normal, permanent and unlimited access, either directly or by acquisition, to qualitatively and quantitatively sufficient and adequate food equal to the cultural societies of the people to which he belongs, and which ensures the dignified life free of fear.

In 1966, the ICESCR reiterated the UDHR with regards to the right to have sufficient standard of living, including food, clothing, housing, and specially recognize the fundamental right to be free from hunger.

ICESCR in its General Comment 12 has defined three types of state obligation:

1. Obligation to protect: It means that the state should take appropriate actions to stop third parties (including individuals and corporations) from defying the right of food of others.
2. Obligation to respect: It means that the government should not take any actions that prevent people from having access to food.
3. Obligation to fulfill: It means that government must pro-actively connect in activities planned to toughen people’s access to and consumption of resources so as to ease their ability to feed themselves.

According to Article 2(2) of the ICESCR, the right to food must be implemented without inequity in terms of sex, language, color, political opinion, religion, age, nationality or social origin, birth, property or other status. Everyone has the right to access to adequate food. Access to adequate food must be in terms of quality, quantity, nutrients, calories and proteins. Lack of access to adequate food may lead to hunger and malnutrition. Illness, reduced quality of life and sudden death are consequences of hunger and malnutrition. Therefore, according to international human rights law “people have a right to adequate food”.

According to 1996 World Food Summit, Rome, governments have dedicated themselves to decrease the number of people suffering from starvation and undernourishment by 2015. According to 2002 World Food Summit, little actions have been taken with respect to 1996 Rome Declaration. According to 2009 surveys, more than one billion people are undernourished worldwide. UN experts have repeatedly pointed out that the current political economy of food fails to protect the most people in the society. Many women, men and children are suffering from extreme hunger. This means that their daily ratio of nutrition’s is well below the normal ratio required for survival.