Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles

The term 'Right to Adequate Food' is derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food in 2002 defined the right to adequate food as follows:

Right to adequate food is a human right, inherent in all people, «to have regular, permanent and unrestricted access, either directly or by means of financial purchases, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural traditions of people to which the consumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and mental, individual and collective fulfilling and dignified life free of fear.» This definition entails all normative elements explained in detail in General Comment 12 of the ICESCR, which states that:

«The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child, alone or in community with others, has the physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or means for its procurement.» In 2004, after two years of discussion and negotiation in the working group, the FAO Council adopted by consensus the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security. The Voluntary Guidelines are not legally binding but draw upon international law and provide guidance on the implementation of existing obligations. They are directed towards States Parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to States that still have to ratify it. But they are also intended for stakeholders working towards a better implementation of the right to food at national level.