Right to food

In a report by Olivier de Schutter – United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, submitted to the Human Rights Council in accordance with Council resolution 13/4, the links between health and malnutrition are addressed.

In the report, he shows why undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency and overnutrition are different dimensions of malnutrition that must be addressed together through a life-course approach. Existing food systems have failed to address hunger, and at the same time encourage diets that are a source of overweight and obesity that cause even more deaths worldwide than does underweight. A transition towards sustainable diets will succeed only by supporting diverse farming systems that ensure that adequate diets are accessible to all, that simultaneously support the livelihoods of poor farmers and that are ecologically sustainable.

Women, the principal care-givers of young children, must be enabled to make informed and autonomous decisions about food and feeding so that young children can enjoy the right to a level of nutrition that supports adequate growth, health and development. The adoption of a human rights framework can serve to ensure that short-term answers do not preclude the chances of identifying longterm solutions.

Find the full report here: http://www.srfood.org/images/stories/pdf/officialreports/20120306_nutrition_en.pdf

Find an ARC story about access to water as a human right here

Find more information on the topic here: http://www.srfood.org/index.php/en/right-to-food