Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
interests in issues relating to food access and utilization (the later through its in-
volvement in
Codex Alimentarius
- an international food standards-seting body it
runs jointly with the World Health Organization). This broader sphere of interest is
seen readily in its annual
State of Food Insecurity
reports, whih explicitly adopt the
entitlements framework to explain the hanging geographies of undernourishment.
Complementing these foci are initiatives relating to the Right to Food. This right
was enshrined in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Article
25(1) of the Declaration states:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-
being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical
care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of un-
employment, sikness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lak of livelihood
in circumstances beyond his control.
The translation of the sentiments of this statement into a more concrete platform
for international obligations has occurred over decades, and has involved various
different organizational arms within the UN. Since the turn of the millennium, two
developments have been key to progress. Firstly, in the year 2000, the UN Commis-
sion on Human Rights agreed to establish an office of the 'Special Rapporteur on the
Right to Food'. In general terms, the mandate of this office was to promote interna-
tional cooperation and information on members' progress with respect to the rights
to food. Then, in 2004, the 127th session of the FAO Council endorsed a set of 'volun-
tary guidelines' whih member states could use in order to incorporate these rights
into national legislation (FAO, 2004). The influence of these initiatives has been con-
siderable in the ways that food security has been framed within international for-
ums. Effectively, they have solidified the entitlements-based perspective by connect-
ing it to a set of international legal rights.
India provides an excellent example of the influence of these perspectives on
food security policy. Since independence, India has operated a food safety net policy
known as the public distribution system (PDS). In most states across India, the PDS
operates in tandem with poverty line measurements, so that households deemed to
be below poverty line (BPL) gain an entitlement to highly-subsidized basic food-
stuffs. Historically, however, considerable problems of maladministration and leak-
age have dogged this system; problems whih in the late 1990s led to public interest
litigation against the government of India for failing to ensure the rights to food for
its citizenry. In a 2001 decision, the Supreme Court of India ordered the establish-
