Examining the Synergy between the Right to Food and Agricultural Trade Policies
| Published date | 01 May 2016 |
| Pages | 293-326 |
| Date | 01 May 2016 |
| DOI | 10.3366/ajicl.2016.0154 |
The exigency for agricultural trade policies to be informed by the norms of the right to food is a crucial one given that a large majority of people who are deprived of their right to food are in developing countries and are involved in agricultural activities, particularly the production of food. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AOA)
The central argument of this article is that if agricultural trade policies have an adverse impact on food security, then there is also the possibility of the infringement of people's right to food as stipulated in international human rights instruments. These instruments provide scope for extra-territorial obligations of states to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of everyone to adequate food, availability of food and accessibility of food. There are, however, both normative and institutional conflicts between the human rights regime and the international trade regime on food security issues. While the international trade regime is concerned with its own norms, principles and rules to construe and implement food security issues, the human rights regime gives primacy to human rights norms and principles. However, to address the food security issues in a holistic way it is important to have a positive interconnection between the two regimes. This article contributes to the existing literature by arguing that the norms on the right to food may enrich trade policy debates in agriculture by providing guidance to trade policy-makers in adopting the appropriate trade policy to ensure food security for developing countries. Human rights norms also provide the avenue to challenge the technical rationale that constructs the trade regime on agriculture.
This article will establish this argument in four sections. First, the article will delineate the right to food in the international human rights instruments. Secondly, there will be an examination of the framework and rules of the AOA to highlight how they make room for states to adopt agricultural policies, which are, to a great extent, contrary to their human rights obligations. This analysis holds significance in showing an overall correlation between existing agricultural trade rules and the state's obligation to ensure the right to food. At the heart of the Doha Round negotiations are the food security policies of developing countries, which are formulated in terms of wider policy space. Thirdly, the article will examine the somewhat contentious food security policies from the right to food perspective. Fourthly, the article will shed light on the normative and institutional conflicts between the international trade regime and human rights regime on food security.
The article will explore avenues for a coherent approach between the regimes so that trade policies are informed by the norms of the right to food. The interrelation between the right to food and agricultural trade policies is viewed as almost inevitable since a significant portion of agricultural products is consumed as food. More so, the availability, affordability and accessibility of food are sometime facilitated, while at other times tempered, by agricultural trade policies. That being so, there should be more interaction between the international trade regime and the human rights regime through learning, information-sharing and multi-stakeholder deliberation, which would facilitate a coherent approach in the long run.
The human right to food is part of the international human rights regime, whose main objective ‘is to promote human rights ideas and prevent human rights violations across the globe’.
While this may be the case, the right to food has nonetheless been included in international and regional human rights treaties. This is an indication of the international community's acknowledgement of the existence of this right as well as an interest in ensuring its protection. Other human rights instruments which have recognised the right to food include the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
The right to food involves the ability to feed oneself and one's family whether it is from the produce of land or other means. It also includes the ability to purchase food or acquire food in some way. It can therefore be seen that this right is one which involves a number of elements and in order for this right to be enjoyed, there would be a need to look across a section of disciplines or areas – agriculture, finance, labour, social policies and so on.
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides that everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for their health and well-being and food is mentioned as being essential to the attainment of this right. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) later enumerated the right to food in its Article 11. Not only is the right to food recognised as being part of everyone's right to a standard of living, the right is also recognised as the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger. Importantly, Article 11 of the ICESCR emphasises the need to adopt and implement appropriate measures or include specific programmes:
To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources;
Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.
The availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable within a given culture; The accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights.
Thus, it should be noted that ‘violations of the right to food can occur through the direct action or inaction of states’ and that this would include, for instance, ‘the failure of a state to take into account its international legal obligations regarding the right to food when entering into agreements with other states or with international organizations’.
According to Eide, the right to food should incorporate the types of foodstuffs which should be commonly available and be culturally acceptable. The overall supply should cover overall nutritional needs in terms of quantity and quality and such foodstuffs should be safe and of good quality.
In order to be fulfilled and enjoyed, the right to food requires access to the means of production and distribution of food. It would therefore be expected that in terms of conditions and mechanisms for securing food access, policies, whether they be agricultural, economic, social or political, will have a major bearing on food supply and consumption. As such, the promotion and protection of people's right to food will need to take into account the relevant policies which may have an impact on this right. Importantly, Gonzalez points out that all states, even those not a party to the ICESCR, are under an obligation to protect the human right to food pursuant to the UDHR, which is widely regarded as part of customary international law.
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