The Right to Food, Food Security and Biodiversity Conservation Kerstin Mechlem Legal Officer Development Law Service Legal Office, FAO IUCN World Conservation Congress 19 November 2004

842 million hungry § Right to Food International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Voluntary Guidelines for the Right to Food, …

Outline I. The Right to Food and Food Security II. Biodiversity for the Right to Food III. The Right to Food for Conservation

I. The Right to Food (RtF) Right of everyone to have and economic access at all times to sufficient, safe and acceptable food or means for its procurement in a sustainable manner Right to adequate food

State Obligations respect Protect fulfil facilitate Provide $

Food Security 1970s: availability of world supplies of basic food stuffs 1980s: access by individuals Later: health, nutrition Now: World Food Summit definition: 'Food security, at the individual, household, national, regional and global levels is achieved when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.'

Realizing the RtF means: Human dignity – individuals as agents of change Accountability Empowerment Non-discrimination Participation and transparency Legal framework and recourse mechanisms Focus on most vulnerable and marginalized Rights, not charity

Implementing the RtF Voluntary Guidelines on the Progressive Realization of the Right to Food, September 2004 First time governments negotiated implementation of a social right Wide set of measures: food strategies, market systems, institutions, legal frameworks, food safety, nutrition, safety nets and, ecological sustainability and access to natural resources, including genetic resources for food and agriculture

II. Biodiversity for the RfF Agriculture: 40% of surface of Earth Contributions of Agrobiodiversity: Future productivity Adaption to local needs Protection against starvation Nutrition, …

Current situation 4 plant species (wheat, maize, rice and potato) > ½ of plant-based calories 12 animals species: 90% animal protein Over last century ¾ of genetic diversity of agricultural crops lost; of 6300 animal breeds, 1350 endangered or already extinct Risk of further loss of diversity and local knowledge Measures to counter this trend: organic and conservation agriculture, Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

III. RtF for Conservation Majority of poor and hungry (798 million) in rural areas - they shoulder disproportionately effects of env. degradation (draughts) Env. degradation affects a number of human rights (life, health, water, …) and is a cause of food insecurity … and affects a number of human rights (Ogoni decision) Poverty, in turn, also generates env. degradation – when immediate needs take precedence ove longer-term goals –

Wide set of measures necessary to break vicious cycles Voluntary Guidelines on the Right to Food Trade-offs necessary in some cases → need to improve realization of RtF and to lift people out of poverty to enable focus on longer-term conservation issues

Conclusions and Way Forward Every human being has a rtf. Safeguarding and using agricultural biodiversity play an important role in improving the realization of the rtf. In turn, the realization of fundamental human rights, such as the rtf, is necessary to enable people to care about the sustainability of their livelihood practices. Ample room for human rights and env. organizations to join forces for the benefit of both

Thank you! Further Information: kerstin.mechlem@fao.org http://www.fao.org