South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE)

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Human Rights: The Food Agenda
Published: The Rising Nepal, 27 December 2003
By: Kamalesh Adhikari

10 December. The World Human Rights Day. The day that is celebrated worldwide to ensure that all the people of the world are enjoying their right to live, liberty and pursuit of happiness. The day that calls all States, global agencies and actors to guarantee that everyone is entertaining the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself/herself and family, including food… The celebration went this year also. The slogan for this year was "Know Your Human Right". Governments, global agencies and different actors worldwide expressed the respect they accord to human dignity and freedom.

Fortunate are the people because the Nature created them and gave a life to live on earth. Fortunate are the people because the world is concerned about their life. Fortunate are the people because States, global agencies and different actors worldwide have committed them to guarantee them the right to live a healthy life. But unfortunate are the people who do not see or know such celebrations. Unfortunate are the people who do not find any importance of such celebrations. Unfortunate are the people because they are hungry. Unfortunate are the people because there is enough food for them but they do not have an access. Unfortunate are the people because they do not know less is done and more is said. Unfortunate are the people because they are just poor.

The story above is not a fiction. This is a true story that depicts the life that a majority of people in the developing world are living. This is true in the sense that around 800 million people in the world are malnourished; true in the sense that the States, global agencies and different actors in the world have pledged to halve this number by 2015; true in the sense that success to this end is minimal; true in the sense that the number will not be halved by 2015; true in the sense that the poor will starve more in future.

The nature destined all to have food for their survival. The prime condition for the existence of life is the availability of food. Access to food is therefore a natural and fundamental right. The United Nations has recognised access to adequate food as both an individual right and a collective responsibility. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 has proclaimed that "everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and the family, including food…". Nearly 20 years later, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 developed these concepts in a more pragmatic manner. The Covenant stressed "the right of everyone to … adequate food" specifying it as "the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger".

Since then, the issue of food security has been high on the human rights agenda of the world forums. At the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s World Food Summit held in Italy in 1996, leaders from 185 countries and the European Community reaffirmed in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security "the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger." They also reinforced their commitment to halve the number of undernourished population by 2015.

Unfortunately, the progress towards this end is minimal. Consequently, the right to have an access to food is being threatened in the present era. Especially in the developing word the state of food insecurity is more pressing and severe. FAO’s latest estimates in ‘The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2003’ have revealed that the number of undernourished people in the developing world is no longer falling but climbing. During the first half of the 1990s, the number of chronically people decreased by 37 million. Since 1995-1997, the number has increased by over 18 million. This clearly indicates to a gloomy future where the countries in the developing world would be facing even more severe time of undernourishment. The global pledge made to halve the number of hungry people by 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals is now facing a critical juncture. The threats are increasing and the way out seems impossible within the stipulated target period.

In Nepal, where almost half the population is living below the poverty line, this phenomenon is common. Worse yet, it seems that food insecurity in the country is no longer improving. Until 1971/72, Nepal was self-sufficient on food grains but this scenario dramatically changed afterwards. From 1972/73, it started to be food-deficient and subsequently became a net food importing country. The worst ever problem haunted in 1999 when for the first time in the Nepalese history people in certain pockets of Karnali zone died of famine.

At present, among 75 districts, three districts are severely-food-deficit, eight are highly-food-deficit, 16 are medium-food-deficit and 17 are low-food-deficit. And, among the remaining 31 districts, 10 districts are food self-sufficient and 21 are food-surplus districts. The Nepal Food Corporation supplied 98,532 tons of food in the year 2000/01 but the demand of food for the same period remained significantly higher than that. During the fiscal year 2001/02, Nepal imported US$ 59.17 million worth of food and live animals but exported US$ 49.71 million worth of food and live animals.

It is unfortunate to note that though the agricultural sector constitutes 40 percent share in total gross domestic product and is a source of livelihood for more than 80 percent of the population, as a result of its relatively poor performance over the past decades, Nepalese today are bound to face poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition. Time is therefore ripe for us to put our heads together to point out where and how we are lacking and how can we resolve the problem.

The right to freedom from hunger is fundamental. This means that the State has an obligation to ensure, at the very least, that people do not starve. As such, this right is intrinsically linked to the right to live. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990 has also expressed its commitment to protect and promote the basic human rights keeping in view the social and distributive justice. This is therefore the responsibility of the government to ensure whether or not people in the country are enjoying the right to have an access to safe and nutritious food. But, it should also be noted that the responsibility to secure access to food not merely falls upon the government; it is a collective responsibility of all.

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