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Colombia enshrines the Right to Adequate Food for all in its Constitution
On 6 February 2025, the Congress of Colombia adopted Legislative Act No. 1, amending Article 65 of the Political Constitution, to explicitly recognize the human right to adequate food for all individuals. Prior to this amendment, the Constitution recognized the right to food only for specific population groups: pregnant women (Article 43), children (Article 44), and older persons in situations of destitution (Article 46).

The revised Article 65 now establishes that: “the State shall guarantee the human right to adequate food, progressively, with an intercultural and territorial approach, and shall protect against hunger and all forms of malnutrition.” The amendment also sets out the responsibilities of the State to promote food sovereignty and food security, reduce food loss, and provide special protection for food production and access. It emphasizes the need to prioritize the sustainable and integrated development of agri-food systems and calls on the State to foster research and support the transfer of knowledge and technologies to enhance productivity and food availability in the country.

This constitutional reform is the result of sustained, cross-party efforts by members of the Parliamentary Front Against Hunger of Colombia, who have promoted the initiative since 2019. Their commitment to achieving Zero Hunger led to the presentation of the legislative proposal on seven occasions, culminating in its approval by absolute majority following eight rounds of debate. The adoption of this legislative act highlights the value of coordinated action and political will, as well as the importance of technical and legal support in advancing the right to adequate food.

The FAO Development Law Service (LEGN), provided technical and legal assistance throughout the legislative process, within the framework of capacity development and multi-stakeholder dialogue efforts promoted by FAO in Colombia.

The Parliamentary Front Against Hunger, which brings together more than 400 parliamentarians across Latin America and the Caribbean, played a central role in promoting the bill in both chambers of Congress, working in close collaboration with institutional and civil society actors to ensure the political and technical viability of the initiative.

The process was supported by FAO in Colombia through its work in the area of food and nutrition, with strategic backing from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (AMEXCID), under the projects Support to the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative and Mesoamerica without Hunger, respectively.

With this amendment, Colombia becomes the tenth country in the Latin America and the Caribbean region to explicitly recognize the right to adequate food for all in its Constitution, joining Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guyana, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua and Suriname.

This recognition is significant for its sustainability—ensuring long-term protection of the right—and for its universality, as it applies to the entire population, beyond specific groups. For more information on constitutional recognition of the right to adequate food, see FAO, Collection of Legal Guidance Notes to End Hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2024.

The effective implementation of this constitutional right requires sustained efforts, including the development of public policies, legislation, and institutional mechanisms to guarantee its realization. FAO remains available to provide technical assistance to the Government of Colombia in the development of a statutory law to operationalize and implement this right.