EGM on SDG 2: Charlotte Dreger Statement

Charlotte Dreger

Policy and Advocacy Officer for Sustainable Food Systems, FIAN International Secretariat 

Session 8: People

To better leverage interlinkages between SDG 2 and other SDGs and reduce inequalities, action must be based on the Right to Food and all other human rights which are interconnected and interrelated, such as the rights to land, water and health, the rights of women, peasants, and Indigenous Peoples, among other.

But what does such a human rights-based approach mean in practice?

First and foremost; that meaningful social participation must be guaranteed in public policy making at all levels.
And it is not about participation for the sake of participation, but this participation must be meaningful. Meaningful participation can only be guaranteed when there are clear rules; when a space clearly distinguishes between the different roles of the actors that have a “stake” in the issue and consequently ensures appropriate roles for the different actors while recognizing the power imbalances between them. States as duty bearers must take decisions so they can be held accountable by their citizens as rights holders. Third parties such as the private sector should inform policy making but the setting must ensure that decision-making prioritizes the most affected by hunger and malnutrition. Corporate interference in democratic processes must be controlled and reverted.

A positive example at national level is the CONSEA in Brazil. At the global level, it is the CFS, that is the foremost inclusive intergovernmental platform for dealing with food security and it is therefore that the CFS as most democratic space should be prioritized for coordinating action on responses to crisis towards the transformation of food systems.

Secondly, a human rights-based approach means that the underlying structural causes of hunger and malnutrition, inequalities as well as ecological destruction are addressed, such as:

• Over-reliance on global value chains and fossil fuel-based inputs
• Unjust structures in trade, investment and finance; Power concentration in the food system; indebtedness of food import dependent countries
• Discrimination and human rights abuses that lead to inequalities, e.g. Gender-based discrimination and violence against women; Criminalization of human rights defenders, lack of social security and decent work conditions; land concentration and dispossession.

To overcome these structural causes, we need solutions in two spheres.

First, support for local agroecological food production and consumption instead of industrial food production and reliance on global trade; and second, limit corporate power and transform trade rules. There are a lot of concrete demands and proposals for doing so. Policy options are not lacking, it is lack of political will and power that is obstructing progress.

Some concrete examples are:

For supporting local agroecological food production and consumption instead of industrial food production and reliance on global trade and food imports, e.g. by

• Ensure small-scale food producer`s access to and control over natural resources such as land, water and seeds including through redistributive agrarian reforms (Guidance in VGGT Guidelines),
• Strengthen short supply chains and territorial food markets (Guidance in CFS Policy recommendations on connecting smallholders to markets)
• Phase out the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
• Promote diversified diets, which are based on fresh, minimally processed and home-prepared food, e.g. through public procurement
• Ensure living wages and full respect of labor rights for all workers throughout food systems.
  

With regard to limiting corporate power and transforming trade rules, we should be revising the paradigm of food security based on global trade and develop new trade agreements based on food sovereignty. As the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food has well explained in his report on food systems recovery last year, we must move from relationships of dependency and extractivism towards relationships based on care and reciprocity. Some concrete actions that should be taken are:

• Regulate markets to curb food speculation and to reverse corporate concentration and control in food systems
• Halt free trade agreements
• Reduce the debt burden to enable countries to provide public services, social protection systems and invest in food sovereignty and the transition of industrial food systems towards sustainable, healthy and just food systems.
  

Key references:
FIAN International: SDG 2: Approaching SDG 2 through the Right to Food and Nutrition
FIAN International: A just transition to agroecology
FIAN International: Food crisis response entrenches corporate influence
FIAN International: Food systems transformation: in which direction?
Global Network for the right to food and nutrition: Peoples' Monitoring – Toolkit for the Right to Food and Nutrition (gnrtfn.org)
Civil Society and Indigenous People`s Mechanism: Voices from the ground 2: transformative solutions to the global systemic food crises
Special Rapporteur on the right to Food: Right to food for food systems recovery and transformation.
CFS Policy recommendations on connecting smallholders to markets
CFS VGGT - Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security