Food Security: Rights, Livelihoods and the World Food Summit-Five Years Later (original) (raw)
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Food Insecurity and Hunger in Rich Countries—It Is Time for Action against Inequality
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
Household food insecurity is a serious public health concern in rich countries with developed economies closely associated with inequality. The prevalence of household food insecurity is relatively high in some developed countries, ranging from 8 to 20% of the population. Human rights approaches have the potential to address the structural causes, not just the symptoms of food insecurity. Despite most developed countries ratifying the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights over 40 years ago, food insecurity rates suggest current social protections are inadequate. The contemporary framing of the solution to food insecurity in developed countries is that of diverting food waste to the hungry to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda (Goals 2 and 12.3). An estimated 60 million people or 7.2% of the population in high income countries used food banks in 2013. Although providing food assistance to those who are hungry is an important strategy, the current ...
… Rights Working Papers, 2007
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights first formally recognized food security as a human right. This right was subsequently codified into international law in 1976 when the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ICESCR, entered into the force of law. The ICESCR obligates states to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to food, but in the absence of reliable measures of food security, simply monitoring progress towards the realization of the right to food is problematic. Moreover, if duty bearers are to design effective policies and programs to fulfill the right to food, it is essential to have reliable information on who is food insecure. This paper assesses the validity of an adaptation of the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Insecurity Survey Instrument to the rural Senegalese context. The advantage of this instrument is that it is simple and inexpensive to administer, identifies the food security status of individual adults as well as children, and assesses the certainty, quality, and quantity aspects of food access. The USDA Food Insecurity Instrument has been successfully adapted to other developed countries and several developing countries as well. Adaptation to the Sub-Saharan context poses particular challenges given the complex household structure, the more limited reach of markets, the myriad of languages spoken within a limited geographic area, and the influence of seasonality on food access. Despite these challenges, this study demonstrates the validity of a reasonably straightforward adaptation of the USDA food insecurity instrument for rural Kaolack, Senegal, attesting to the promise of this approach for measuring food insecurity in developing countries in general and Sub-Saharan African countries in particular.
The State of Food Security Report 2012 and the Enigma of Achieving Millennium Development Goals
2013
Globally quoted and unquestioningly accepted, the State of the Food Insecurity in the world report 2012, has made significant reduction in the numbers of hungry globally at 868 million. In case of India it has made significant upward revision of hunger prevalence in 1990-92 and significant downward revision for 2010 resulting in 34.9% estimated hunger decline. In the midst of claims of robust methodological revisions, its calculations and assumptions set a dangerous precedence for the policy-makers and planners of the reluctant country governments and worst for the hungry of the world. This paper discusses the SOFI 2012, critiques the declining hunger numbers in SOFI 2012 and produces alternate data sets including independent surveys of Government of India, to counter the reduction claims. It also makes a case for greater public dialogue and engagement in such reports, their methods, metrics and numbers.
Agriculture and Human Values, 2012
The emerging concept of food sovereignty refers to the right of communities, peoples, and states to independently determine their own food and agricultural policies. It raises the question of which type of food production, agriculture and rural development should be pursued to guarantee food security for the world population. Social movements and non-governmental organizations have readily integrated the concept into their terminology. The concept is also beginning to find its way into the debates and policies of UN organizations and national governments in both developing and industrialized countries. Beyond its relation to civil society movements little academic attention has been paid to the concept of food sovereignty and its appropriateness for international development policies aimed at reducing hunger and poverty, especially in comparison to the human right to adequate food (RtAF). We analyze, on the basis of an extensive literature review, the concept of food sovereignty with regard to its ability to contribute to hunger and poverty reduction worldwide as well as the challenges attached to this concept. Then, we compare the concept of food sovereignty with the RtAF and discuss the appropriateness of both concepts for national public sector policy makers and international development policies. We conclude that the impact on global food security is likely to be much greater if the RtAF approach predominated public policies. While the concept of food sovereignty may be appropriate for civil society movements, we recommend that the RtAF should obtain highest priority in national and international agricultural, trade and development policies.
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As United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, noted at the 2021 Africa Regional Food Systems Summit Dialogue, food insecurity is rising in many African countries (see 13 July 2021 address). The global pandemic has not only put global health inequality on display; it has also done the same for food security: nearly one out of five Africans experienced hunger in 2020 – more than double the proportion of any other region. This policy brief highlights the current situation, noting countries with a high prevalence of food insecurity as well as countries where large numbers of people experience hunger. We note the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security as well as the negative consequences of food insecurity from a nutritional perspective. Before looking forward, this policy brief examines the historical context of social policies and safety nets, using a selection of contemporary case studies. It concludes with recommendations for protecting the right to food for all people at all times (e.g., investing in better data, best fit design, expanding coverage, moving beyond quantity to quality, nutritional diversity and food safety) as well as enabling food system change (e.g., enhancing resilience, transforming systems).
Food Security and State: Policy Considerations for the Contemporary Food Crisis
Global Policy Research Institute Policy Briefs, 2013
In 1996, The World Food Summit (WFS) set a target to eradicate hunger in all countries and an immediate goal to half the number of undernourished people by 2015. Backed by the United Nations (UN), international organizations launched a global effort with the intent of achieving food security for all people. A variety of approaches were employed, including the distribution of food aid and farming supplies, skills training in agricultural development, funding for country-specific research, and legal counsel for states. Despite international efforts, over a decade later the number of undernourished was calculated to have risen by nearly 60 million people (FAO 2011). It appears unlikely that the WFS will reach its immediate goal.