Right to Food around the Globe is an online platform that was conceived in 2015. It implemented and monitored by FAOLEX (a database of national legislation, policies and bilateral agreements on food, agriculture and natural resources management). It is unique and allows users to access valuable information on national legislative measures taken to guarantee the right to adequate food.

For each FAO Member Nation, relevant constitutional provisions on the right to adequate food are displayed on the platform as well as the ratification status of some key international instruments such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The platform intends to make such constitutional provisions and status of relevant ratifications visible and accessible to a broader public while enhancing the sharing of experiences among FAO Member Nations. Moreover, when available, the constitutional provisions are accessible in more than one language while the original copies of the constitutions are handily available on FAOLEX. The country profiles section of this platform provides information on national policies and legislation that recognize the right to adequate food and is automatically updated as relevant instruments are entered into FAOLEX.

A collective effort to guarantee a basic right

To guarantee the right to feed oneself in dignity, different actors must play their important respective roles. While some have legal obligations to fulfil, others have responsibilities to meet. Nonetheless, what is certain is that the realization of the right to adequate food involves a variety of actors who impacts each technical area of the work of FAO.

Though adopting, implementing and monitoring policies, strategies, plans and programmes in an efficient manner are paramount in contributing to the progressive realization of the right to adequate food for all, legislative frameworks offer the necessary architectural backbone to adequately support and facilitate such efforts over time. Legal frameworks have different facets and it often proves difficult, if not impossible, to properly measure the quantity of national legislative measures adopted and implemented across the globe to advance the realization of the right to adequate food.

Constitutional protections to anchor policy efforts

The protection of human rights through constitutions is the strongest form of legal protection a State can confer as they are considered the supreme law of a country. Providing such protection signals a strong commitment by a State to progress towards the realization of the right to adequate food for its citizens. When looking at a constitution with the intent to identify articles or provisions that may be relevant for the realization of the right to adequate food, a few specific elements stand out. Although each national situation is unique, for uniformity and feasibility of a platform such as the Right to Food around the Globe, a handful of specific ways with which a State can crystallize its commitment to the realization of the right to adequate food are captured by this platform through FAOLEX and are highlighted hereafter:

Explicit protection of the right to adequate food or freedom from hunger

Over the last few years, there has been an important increase in the number of States that have adopted provisions containing explicit recognition of the right to food or freedom from hunger. In practice, there are two main types of explicit guarantees: either for the entire population or solely for specific groups (such as children).

Implicit protection of the right to adequate food through a few broader human rights instruments

Although it is more ambiguous than explicit protection, there are a few selected human rights that are generally considered to implicitly incorporate the right to adequate food, such as the rights to an adequate standard of living; well-being and development. Also, different national interpretations of constitutions can render implicit protection of the right to adequate food through other broader human rights (such as the right to life, in some countries); unfortunately, such case by case basis cannot be taken into account within a global platform such as the Right to Food around the Globe.

Provisions that explicitly recognize the right to adequate food or standards of nutrition in the form of Directive Principles of State policy

These types of provisions demonstrate the commitment of a State towards the realization of the right to adequate food. In this case, the provisions are understood to be non-directly enforceable by a court and are more in the line of pledges, but they do represent an overarching objective of the State. For the sake of the Right to Food around the Globe, a narrow interpretation was used and only provisions that explicitly recognize the right to adequate food or standards of nutrition were included.

Status of international obligations in the national legislative order

Whether it is through the direct applicability of international instruments at the national level, the recognition of international commitments as having the same status as constitutional provisions or the primacy of international obligations over national laws, these are important means to further protect the right to adequate food at the national level. In the Right to Food around the Globe, all provisions related to international instruments are found under this category.

Other pertinent provisions for the realization of the right to adequate food

The protection of related human rights principles that generally fall outside the scope of implicit protection, such as the right to work and the right to social security, are taken into account under this category. The same applies to Directive Principles of State Policy that do not strictly comply with the aforementioned description but that are still consequential for the realization of the right to adequate food. It is worth noting that this category is not an exhaustive list of relevant provisions that fall outside the scope of the other categories, as the interpretation of such provisions is specific to each national context.

Moving forward to achieve SDG2

As both FAOLEX and the commitment of States towards the progressive realization of the right to adequate food continue to grow and expand in time, especially in light of efforts geared towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2, the Right to Food around the Globe platform represents a pioneering platform that offers ample scope for expansion to include the bulk of actions undertaken by States to progressively realize the right to adequate food for all of the Project. The remaining planned profiles are currently being developed.

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