THE RIGHT TO FOOD: A RIGHT FOR EVERYONE - Food Systems Failure - page 109

ecutive Vice President of the Movement for a World Agriculture Organization (Mo-
magri), has claimed that 'on the agricultural markets, 95 per cent of the operators are
purely financial analysts. This financialization is a true drama for humanity' (Groult,
2008). 4 The current UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Professor Olivier de
Shutter, explained in September 2010 how 'a signiicant portion of the increases in
price and volatility of essential food commodities can only be explained by the emer-
gence of a speculative bubble', and he emphasizes that the significant role played by
large, powerful institutional investors suh as hedge funds, pension funds and in-
vestment banks, 'all of whih are generally unconcerned with agricultural market
fundamentals', is of grave concern (de Shuter, 2010).
Opportunities for reframing the crisis and addressing the right to
food
As pointed out at the start of this hapter, from a right to food perspective, we are
living in one of the bleakest times in history. The food crisis has ravaged the globe
and has hit the poor and vulnerable the hardest. The economic crisis now affects the
rih as well, although it is still those least able to survive who are sufering the most.
Yet, even as we are experiencing this height of global hunger, we are concurrently
enjoying the great rihes that this world also has to offer. Clearly then, it is time for
opportunities as well, a time to look at the system and make the necessary hanges
to reduce suh contradictions.
A human rights approah to the global food situation requires a number of con-
siderations to be taken into account. It requires the reframing of agricultural plans
and policies around principles of participation (particularly of small-scale farmers),
accountability, non-discrimination, transparency, empowerment, rule of law, and
above all else, a focus on human dignity.
Systemic hanges are needed to realize this human rights-based approah. Suh
hanges should involve:
• prioritizing the protection of the most vulnerable (smallholder farmers);
• ensuring policies on bio-fuels respect the right to food and are geared towards true
environmental protection;
• redressing the notion of food aid and reframing it in relation to the obligation of
international cooperation;