Right to Food
A Global Perspective
by
Susan Randolph
and
Shareen Hertel
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Global Hunger
 Between 1970 and 1995, globally the number
of hungry people fell by100 million and the
percentage hungry fell by nearly half
 But since then the number of hungry people has
risen by 135 million people, most sharply since
2006
 Virtually no progress has been made in reducing the
percentage of hungry people globally.
 FAO estimates the number of hungry people in
2010 to be 925 million—that’s roughly 1 in
every 7 people.
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
FAO Hunger Trends
Undernourished
Per capita Food Production &
Income
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
FPI per
capita
1979-81
1990-92
1995-97
2000-02
2006-08
2010
GDP per
capita
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
 Yet since 1980
 Per capita food production increased by a third
 Per capita income quadrupled
 Why?
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Global Drivers
of Hunger
•Dramatic increase
in food prices
2007-08
-shocks
-defensive
measures
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Global Drivers: Long-term
Supply & Demand Dynamics
 Supply Side




Decline in agricultural investment
Conversion farmland to non-agricultural uses
Substitution high return crops for food crops
Land degradation, soil erosion, nutrient
depletion & water scarcity
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Global Drivers: Long-term
Supply & Demand Dynamics
 Demand Side
 Population growth
 Dietary diversification with per capita income
growth—China.
 Bio-fuels production
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Global Drivers: Policies Promoted by Global
Institutions & Developed Country Policies
 Trade liberalization
 Stabilization & Structural Adjustment
 Agricultural Subsidies in OECD countries
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
States Obligations
 States bear the principle obligation to ensure
the rights of those under their jurisdiction.
 States also have obligations to engage in
“international cooperation” to assist other
countries
 (UN charter, Art. 2; ICESCR, Art. 1, CESCR
General comment 3, para 13 7 14.)
 In practice, approach remains fundamentally
state-centric.
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Problems with State-centric
Approach
 Ignores
 how actions of global actors—eg. MNCs, IFIs–
affect rights of people worldwide
 The adverse consequences of state’s economic or
other policy actions, on people who happen to live
in other states.
 Fails to acknowledge
 the individual complicity of comparably well-off
people, worldwide, who benefit from maintaining an
unjust global economic order.
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Global Efforts Toward the
Realization of the Right to Food
 Despite some policy successes, there remain
too many global policy failures.
 Decline in share of bilateral aid directly
targeted to reducing hunger in the short-term
from 6.2% in 1998 to 4.1% in 2007.
 Evidence some stabilization and structural
adjustment programs continue to contribute to
hunger (UNDP 2001, ESOCOR Jan 2008).
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012
Global Efforts Toward the
Realization of the Right to Food
 Doha Round’s failure to reduce farm subsidies
in high-income countries
 Proliferation bilateral trade agreements
privatizing water that jeopardize food security
 Efforts to reign in TNCs (Global Compact,
Ruggie Guidelines) remain voluntary
 Securing the right to food will require
taking the Declaration on the Right to
Development seriously.
The Right to Food in South Africa
UCT, May 30-31, 2012