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An essay on the right to food
Eating is
a basic biological necessity for human beings. When a person does not get
adequate food, he suffers from hunger. Hunger has a harmful effect on human
health and on the quality of life. Malnutrition is the main cause of many
deadly diseases. The lack of nutritious food halts the psychical and intellectual development of
hundreds of children. The fight against hunger has long been recognized as an
important goal for the international community. The first Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) commits to halve between 1990-2015 the proportion of
people who suffer from hunger. However,
the number of undernourished people has increased over the past years.
According to statistics, there was
around one billion undernourished
people worldwide in 2012. Africa, Asia and South America face the biggest
food-related problems.
International
law recognizes the right to food as a
basic human right. It aims to protect
the right of all human beings to feed themselves in dignity, either by
producing their own food or by purchasing it. According to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) the right to food does not
imply that people should be given food for free. However, it implies that enabling environment
should be created, so that people could produce food or access it through the
market. To purchase food, a person needs sufficient incomes, consequently, the
right to food requires states to ensure employment and social protection
policies enabling citizens to realize their right to food. Furthermore, if
people cannot get food due to the reasons beyond their control e.g. after a
natural disaster, the government or international community should provide food
to ensure their survival.
The right
to food is enshrined in several international treaties. “The International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” recognizes the “fundamental
right of everyone to be free from hunger”. The right to food is also stated in
1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights,
Convention on the Rights of the Child and others. There are also a
number non-legally binding resolutions, declarations and recommendations
concerning the right to food. In 2012, the Food Assistance Convention was
adopted requiring it’s signatories
to provide at least a minimum amount of
food aid for those in need.
Despite
these legal efforts, the hunger still persists today and millions of people
cannot exercise their right to food. Why? Firstly, most international
commitments are not legally binding. Even after signing them, states may not
implement these commitments fully or lack adequate resources to put them into
force. Furthermore, the reason of world hunger is not a scarcity of food, but
the unequal distribution of food and the lack of access to it by deprived
persons. Experts claim that sufficient food is available or could be produced
from current resources globally, even in those countries where large
numbers of people suffer from malnutrition. Wars, natural disasters, the concentration
of resources in the hands of a small group of wealthy people-all these reasons
may limit the access of the poor to food.
No doubts, that bad governance, corruption, mismanagement of resources
are also among the major causes of
hunger and poverty in many countries of the world.
