Food security as a human right

This project will provide insights for assessing policy tools identified in P4.1.1 by taking into account multilayered governance in building a new conceptual framework for appropriate tools implementing food security respecting the right to food. After 50 years of efforts by international institutions and development agencies the number of hungry people has reached an unprecedented 1 billion, despite the Right to Food enshrined in international, ratified UN treaties as well as in many national constitutions.

In trade, particular problems were found to arise from tariff protection, non-tariff measures and subsidisation impairing the right to food. From a local and household food security perspective human rights and trade law may involve conflicting obligations and solutions. The stalemate in WTO negotiations and the commodity rush further exacerbate the problems, especially in fragile states. From a human rights perspective the lack of policy coherence is particularly flagrant.

The project looks at the right to food and food security from the particular angle of small subsistence farming in developing countries. The focus will be on the need of weak economies and populations exposed to food shortages. Specifically, it will describe the complex interaction between the need for increased food supply, trade and FDI, new technologies (e.g. biotech, biofuels) and small and subsistence farmers’ rights, including minorities and gender issues. Recent work on treaty construction in international agricultural trade in the WTO provides a springboard for this aspect of the project.