Rome/Kampala – “The right to adequate food can no longer be just a progressive aspiration, but is an urgent, concrete and achievable time-bound goal for all governments to meet for all people”, said Gabriel Ferrero, Chair of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and first keynote speaker at the Second National Conference on the Human Right to Adequate Food in Uganda, held in Kampala from 18-19 April 2023.

Twenty years after the first conference on the right to adequate food in Uganda, national and international experts met to discuss how to embed the human right to adequate food into Uganda’s food systems transformation.

“Achieving the right to food will require the design and intentional adoption of appropriate policies”, Ferrero said. He encouraged Ugandan partners to make full use of the diverse CFS policy tools, including the Right to Food Guidelines, “the mother of all these instruments, which are approaching their 20^th anniversary in 2024”.

During the event, consensus was reached on the need to position a human-rights based approach at the centre of the policy and legislative agenda to ensure the inclusive transformation of Uganda’s food systems.

In the opening remarks of the Conference, Minister of State for Agriculture Kyakulaga Fred Bwino appealed to delegates to take stock of the achievements as well as the gaps that are still driving hunger and malnutrition in the country. “Failing to feed citizens is a violation of human rights, especially the right to adequate food”, he underscored.

The two-day conference sought to trigger momentum towards strengthening Uganda’s legal and policy environment, enhancing inclusivity and accountability for the realization of the human right to adequate food.

There is nothing more urgent than making sure no one has to go to bed hungry because she cannot afford to put a meal on her table, Alejandro Grinspun, Head of the Right to Food Unit of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), said during his intervention at the Conference.

“With political will, adequate financing, smart policies and investments, it is not unrealistic to dream of a world without hunger”, Grinspun remarked.

Taking stock of the last 20 years, Uganda has adopted policies, programmes and plans that are relevant to adequate food. However, obstacles remain to the full implementation of this human right, especially in vulnerable communities and those affected by shocks and disasters.

Participants at the Conference agreed that the adoption into law of the Food and Nutrition Bill, which was drafted in 2009 and incorporated the right to adequate food, could help counter the current setbacks in food insecurity and malnutrition.

Solutions must be grounded on human rights

Today the world faces multiple and interrelated challenges, including climate change, conflicts and economic downturns, which increase poverty and inequality, notably in rural areas.

“Food is increasingly treated like a commodity”, warned Michael Fakhri, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, in his keynote address on the second day of the Conference. “But food is not a commodity, food is life itself”, Fakhri emphasized. “It is the right for everyone to celebrate life through their meals with each other in communion.”

He underlined that protecting people's right to food is the key to overcoming the current food crisis and transforming food systems. Human rights are crucial because they focus on the connections between governments and the people, and between the people and the environment, Fakhri explained. Human rights aim to ensure that “every aspect of society, every sector of the economy, works to serve and empower those relationships”.

FAO´s work on the right to food in Uganda

“In light of the present momentum around the transformation of Uganda's food systems this conference is critically important to revive the discussion on the progressive realization of the right to food”, Priya Gujadhur, FAO Deputy Representative in Uganda, said at the Conference.

She applauded the efforts made by all the local actors in Uganda and pledged FAO’ s continued support for the inclusive and sustainable transformation of Uganda’s food systems, working closely with partners and building on its extensive expertise regarding the realization of the right to adequate food.  

FAO has over the years supported the implementation of the right to food in Uganda. The Organization has provided technical advice to state and non-state actors for the formulation of the Uganda Food and Nutrition Policy in 2003 and the drafting of the Food and Nutrition Bill, as well as on consumer protection rights and on good governance practices in addressing food insecurity at local level.

“We have immense work to do, and therefore we are calling for a more consolidated and coordinated response to make the right to food a reality for all”, expressed at the closing session Mariam Fauzat Wangadya, Chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission.

This Second National Conference in 20 years in Uganda on the Right to Adequate Food brought together government, civil society, academics, consumer organizations, the United Nations, legal and policy experts and affected populations; and is a welcome step in support of Uganda’s efforts to drive food systems transformations that will ensure food security and nutrition for all people always.