Right to Food in the Development and Trade Politics post-2015
Marikki Stocchetti The Finnish Institute of International Affairs Who Should Feed the World Conference? Politics of Guaranteeing Food for All People 14 May 2013 Tallinn
Outline • Food politics (and crisis) in Global Governance • The rights-based approach to food • The global agenda 2015 (-2030) and the role of
development and trade – Towards a Common Ground?
Photosource: UN System Task Team Report (2012) Realizing the Future We Want for ALL
Food politics (and Crisis) in Global Governance • Food politics of today are far from sustainable – The present way of production overburdens planetary boundaries, yet it leaves 870 million people to starve. – Inequality of consumption – Global crisis and chronic pockets of hunger •
NB Sub-Saharan Africa!
Source: World Food Programme
Food politics (and Crisis) in Global Governance 4/5 persons in Sub Saharan Africa are living in countries where agriculture is the principle sources of livelihoods (World Bank) • Sustainable production must be guaranteed both locally and globally
World population is increasing from the 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050 • There is still enough food for all, should it be produced and distributed differently but by 2050 this will be no-longer the case… • ...The food production will need to increase by 60 percent
Food politics (and Crisis) in Global Governance
The key challenge for the international system now and in the future
• Combination unsolved longterm problems related to unsustainable agriculture of the industrialized countries and insufficient & inadequate production in the poorer countries, poverty, conflicts, climate change, etc. • A core need for every human being with major micro and macro consequences
What has global governance to do with right to food? Definition of global governance
• A compilation of international efforts to manage and eventually to solve global problems such as poverty and hunger
Development and trade policies as tools for global governance
• The role of different actors i.e. the European Union, or other international organizations such as the WTO, UN agencies etc. • Individual countries such as Estonia or Finland, Developing countries (netimporters-exporters) • Private sector globally and locally
Rights-based approach to food The right to food is a human right recognized under international law which protects the right of all human beings to feed themselves in dignity, either by producing their food or by purchasing it. - Olivier de Schutter UN Special Rapporteur on right to food
Right to food as an international norm, who would argue against it? • The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (160 signatories), • (UN) World food Summit 1996, preceding the debate on the current international development agenda
Rights-based approach to food: the AAAs
Access
Availability
Adequacy
The Current Development Agenda • Millennium Declaration adopted at the UN General
Assembly in September 2000 by 189 countries • The 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) one year later • The famous MDG 1 - the unfinished business of target 1C – to half the number of people
suffering from hunger
The Future of the Global Agenda post-2015
The Era of the Millennium of Agenda comes to an end in September 2015
How to merge “the best of” Millennium Agenda with Sustainable Development (“the Rio process 1992 2012 -)?
The UN General Assembly is to Agree on new development framework for all by 9/2015
What role for right to food in this framework? • Cross-cutting issue that cannot be solved in silos • The litmus test for the new paradigm
The role of development politics: challenges and possibilities The sustainable rural development: a long overdue task in development strategies:‌ • The burden of the past failures and the need to redirect current policies • Insufficient investment to agricultural development to improve self-reliance and exports/imports balance to meet the triple AAAs
Private sector engagement, risk absorbance and job creation Financing for ideas, knowledge, capacity building on rights and good governance including accountability and land rights
The role of trade post-2015: key issues to look at‌ The crisis of multilateral trade norms in agriculture The role of trade in growth creation
Bilateral free trade agreements but prevailing protectionism
Intellectual property rights including seeds
Investments and accountability Ungoverned agribusiness and unfair value chains
Development policy
Trade Policy
• From donor-recipient
• Integrating right to food in
approach to an encompassing partnership beyond development aid • Advocacy work on right to
food at the global level for a holistic approach and policy coherence • Knowledge from the field!
trade relations, norms and practices • Improved exchange of information between policy sectors • Private sector (corporate governance) – Good governance, good
business
• More openness and
accountability!
Thank you! marikki.stocchetti@fiia.fi