The Right to Food

Let these right to food-related resources update you in February!

News - 31.01.2022

31 January 2022, Rome - "Every individual and every organ of society … shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms." - Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.

The right to food is a cross-cutting issue. There are many dimensions interrelated, actors and processes involved, diversity of visions, subtle difference between concepts or emerging issues.

In order for every person to be able to fulfil the right to adequate food, or to advocate for its implementation, an understanding of certain issues and skills are needed.  

The materials available on this page are studies, platforms and other resources that have been recently published not only by FAO but also other entities, sometimes issues in one or more of the six official FAO languages. The selection of items has been made by the FAO Right to Food Team, who aims to share information, provide practical guidance and stimulate debate on various aspects of the right to food.

Over 2022 FAO will be posting an update of these resources.

We hope you find them useful and enjoy this food for thought!

 

 Selection of right to food-related resources in January

Food security and standards | WHH and partners

It is designed for implementation and verification within the framework of a sustainability standards system. It is structured according to the FAO Right to Food Guidelines. It helps companies involved in such agricultural production chains to fulfil their social responsibilities and comply with mandatory due diligence.

New project takes off: fostering human rights in food systems | Rikolto and partners, with the support of FAO

A ten year long project to strengthen the capacity of governments, peasants, and other people living in rural areas to adopt and incorporate human rights frameworks. Initial project activities will take place in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Honduras and Uganda with the intention to scaling up the approach to other countries and producing global guidance on this issue.

World Economic Situation and Prospects 2022| UNDESA

During the past two years, the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased sharply. Gender gaps have widened. And income and wealth inequalities, within and between countries, have gone up. We are also witnessing an increase in severe climate events due to global warming.  There is no question that there has been a substantial reversal in progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Family Farming Knowledge Hub | FAO 

The Platform gathers digitized quality information on family farming from all over the world; including national laws and regulations, public policies, best practices, relevant data and statistics, researches, articles and publications.

Sustainable Land Use: Food Security Starts with the Soil | GFFA 

The 14th Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference at the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) saw 68 agriculture ministers adopt an ambitious final communiqué. It also shows their commitment on the right to adequate food. 

Changing people’s eating behaviour| Pacific Island Food Revolution

The power of reality TV, radio, and social media can change our behavior. The Pacific Island Food Revolution activates local cuisine knowledge and turns a mirror on the Pacific itself that reveals that eating fresh, local, indigenous foods is the answer to good health. Over the 12 episodes covering Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu, the challenges in the TV competition look to provide solutions that people have identified as barriers to healthy eating such as convenience, taste and affordability. People can become Food Warriors on social media and share their journeys, access toolkits and lesson plans with their favorite teachers.

The role of schools in preventing overweight and obesity among students in Latin America and the Caribbean| UNICEF 

Childhood overweight and obesity rates in Latin America and the Caribbean are among the highest globally, where nearly four million children under 5 have overweight. The school environment is one of the places where children learn health, nutrition, and physical activity habits. Considering the amount of time children spend at school, it is an ideal place to encourage them to learn and practice healthy habits.

Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in 2021 | FAO 

The five regional State of Food Security and Nutrition are now out. A wealth of data fully available to download. Check out the available

Africa

The most recent estimates show that 281.6 million people on the continent, over one-fifth of the population, faced hunger in 2020, which is 46.3 million more than in 2019. This deterioration continues a trend that started in 2014, after a prolonged period of improving food security. In addition to hunger, millions of Africans suffer from widespread micronutrient deficiencies, while overweight and obesity are already significant public health concerns in many countries.

Asia-Pacific

An estimated 375.8 million people in the region faced hunger in 2020, which is nearly 54 million more people than in 2019. In this region alone, more than 1.1 billion people did not have access to adequate food in 2020 – an increase of almost 150 million people in just one year. The high cost of a healthy diet and persistently high levels of poverty and income inequality continue to hold healthy diets out of reach for 1.8 billion people in this region.

Europe and Central Asia

Undernourishment and severe and moderate food insecurity rates in Europe and Central Asia are, on average, much lower than in the rest of the world.  However, more than 14 million people became moderately or severely food insecure from 2019 to 2020.

Near East and North Africa

The number of hungry people reached 69 million people in 2020, triggered by protracted crises, social unrests and exposure to multiple shocks and stresses such as conflicts, poverty, inequality, climate change, scarce natural resources and the economic repercussions associated with the recent COVID-19 pandemic. 

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