Right to food

Pioneering model law unveiled by the Pan African Parliament to fight hunger and malnutrition

04/09/2024

During the 3rd Session of its Sixth Parliament, the Pan African Parliament (PAP) officially launched the first ever Model law on Food and Nutrition Security in Africa. This model law is the result of a longstanding partnership between the Pan African Parliament and FAO, a partnership that was formalized with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2016 and the launch of the Pan African Parliamentarians' Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (PAPA-FSN).  

The law had been adopted by PAP´s plenary in November 2022 to guide or serve as a source of inspiration for African Union Member States that aim to develop national or sub-national legislation on the right to adequate food and food and nutrition security.While not a legally binding document, the model law will provide African lawmakers with a valuable tool to design sound legal and institutional frameworks to help tackle the challenge of rising hunger and food insecurity on the continent.  

The launching ceremony was attended by Hon. Chief Fortune Charumbira (Zimbabwe), President of the Pan African Parliament, the Vice-Chair and other members of the PAP Committee on Agriculture, AUDA-NEPAD Director for Agriculture, Food Security, Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change EstherineFotabong, as well as high-level officials from FAO and WFP 

In a keynote speech during the opening session, Abebe Haile Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa, recalled the crucial role of parliamentarians in setting political and legislative agendas, enacting laws and budgets, and scrutinizing government action. Dr Gabriel welcomed the launch of the model law and stressed need for continuing collaboration between FAO and African parliamentarians to tackle hunger and malnutrition in Africa.  

 For her part, Hon. Esther Passaris, Kenya Representative and member of the PAP Committee on Agriculture, stressed that “the rationale behind this model law is to persuade state and non-state actors to ensure adequate funding in this area, which will result in adequate food.”  She also highlighted the need to proactive tabling of the model law before national parliaments, conduct comparative analysis to identify existing gaps in national legislation and launch parliamentary actions to fill those gaps. 

Participants at the event also noted Africa's upcoming hosting of the Third Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition in 2026. This momentous event stems from the call by parliamentarians worldwide during the Second Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, held in Valparaíso, Chile, in June 2023. 

A law anchored in the right to adequate food 

The human right to adequate food is solidly at the core of the Model Law and features prominently throughout the document. 

In itsPreamble, the model law recognizes the progress made by African countries in providinglegal protection to the right to adequate food through constitutional provisions and legislation with a view toprogressively achieving the full realization of this fundamental human right.   

The principles guiding the model law are spelled out in Article 6, fully in line with the human rights based approach to development, while other articles mandate the establishment of an inter-sectoral and multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism with advisory, consultative and/or decision-making responsibilities over food and nutrition security issues, the allocation of sufficient budget resources for policy implementation, and the availability of independent accountability mechanisms to seek redress for any human right violations in relation to food. 

Parliaments throughout the region will now be able to use the model law to elaborate framework laws and other legislation to tackle food and nutrition security challenges in their countries.