Gorta Policy Brief: Hunger
Every man, woman and child in the 925 million who suffer from chronic hunger has an individual and an inalienable right to adequate food and a fundamental right to be free from hunger.
Alice Fazema farms new plot in the Medrum village with support from Gorta’s local partner CAWVOC, Malawi.
2
Hunger at a glance While significant efforts have been made and success achieved by a number of countries around the globe in combating extreme poverty and hunger, numbers continue to threaten development processes. Among them are: food price volatility, fragility of national and international markets, and inadequate resilience to economic and other internal and external shocks. In addition, issues arise in relation to land competition for food, feed and fuel, environmental degradation, water scarcity, sustainable management of natural resources, climate change, transparency and accountability of food systems. The need to prioritise hunger on the global development agenda was recalled at the recent
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Summit in New York (September 2010) where Heads of State and Government committed themselves to accelerating progress towards the achievement of MDG 1 (to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger). UN General Assembly draft resolution Keeping the Promise: United to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals advocates “supporting a comprehensive and coordinated response to address the multiple and complex causes of the global food crisis, including the adoption of political, economic, social, financial and technical solutions in the short, medium and long terms by national governments and the international community, including mitigating the impact of the high volatility of food prices on developing countries.�
WENDI participants from the Nebbi District receiving Gorta goats, Uganda.
1
Tackling Hunger and Malnutrition The issue of hunger is a structural problem which points to deeper and entrenched roots of the neglect of agriculture in development policies over the last 30 years. There is a real and urgent need to adopt lasting political, financial, and economic solutions. We must replicate and scale up successful initiatives, improve safety nets and social protection programmes, enhance people’s resilience to shocks, increase investment in agriculture and make sure nutrition is consistently taken into account in all food and agriculture debates. In this regard, Gorta fully endorses the “1000 Days: Change a Life, Change the Future – Partnership to Reduce Child Malnutrition”
A CODEP participant puts building structures in place in Chipata, Zambia.
2
– a US/Irish initiative launched by Foreign Minister Micheál Martin and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (September 2010). This is one of the more significant initiatives announced during the New York Summit which aims at investing in a child’s first 1000 days of existence (from conception to age 2) as a critical window for health, development and prosperous futures. Responses need to be targeted, coherent, and concerted. Local communities’ active, free and meaningful participation must be enhanced in the planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of their own development programmes.
The eradication of hunger: not only a policy commitment but a legal obligation For those countries that have ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (to date 160 countries - including Ireland in 1989), a legal obligation exists under articles 2 and 11 to “progressively realise the right to food” and to “ensure freedom from hunger”. Looking at food security through a right to food lens calls for a paradigm shift from charity to rights, from beneficiaries to right holders, and from commitments to legal obligations. Food is not only a need but a fundamental individual entitlement. In a right to food
approach, the focus is on the creation of an enabling environment, which can strengthen legal, policy and institutional frameworks and create those conditions that are conducive to people feeding themselves in dignity. Hunger is a failure of governance, rather than one of food yields alone. There is a need to add a third pillar to the traditional twin track approach of immediate relief and long term sustainable development: that of governance and human rights.
Wilfred Cwinyaai of AFARD speaks with WENDI participants in the West Nile Region, Uganda.
3
4
Shonga and Sammy attend the Claremont Preschool and Home Visit in Pinetown, South Africa, which is supported by Gorta’s local partner through teacher training and homecare
The need for a rights based approach The eight MDGs have the ‘eradication of poverty and hunger’ at their very core - as MDG 1. They do, however, fail to address the issue from a fully rights based approach. Millennium Goal One aims at reducing by half the proportions of people living with hunger, which means measuring progress using a ‘tinted’ indicator. The proportion of hungry people may well decrease due, for instance, to population growth with numbers remaining the same – this means that for example Mr Jones could be, at any given time in any given country, 1 in 10 hungry, rather than 1 in 6 – he is still hungry nonetheless. The target should focus on the “1” side of the scale, rather than on the “10” – the attention should be on ‘who is hungry’ rather than on ‘out of how many’.
A rights based approach calls for a paradigm shift from charity to rights, from beneficiaries to right holders, and from commitments to legal obligations. The key elements of a rights based approach are:
• • • • •
Food as a matter of rights not of charity Entitlements rather than needs Individuals as right holders States as duty bearers Universal, interdependent, indivisible and interrelated nature of all human rights • Principles of participation, accountability, non discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment, and the rule of law • Focus on process, not only on results • Availability of recourse mechanisms for cases of violation
United against Hunger One of the most affected regions of the world is subSaharan Africa, with 239 million chronically hungry people. The challenge here is to create an enabling environment that is conducive to people feeding themselves in dignity and building more prosperous futures for themselves and their children. This is within our reach if structural changes are enhanced, political will and partnership is harnessed and governance of food systems is strengthened. In an effort to achieve sustainable livelihoods, emphasis must be placed on innovation and impact. In contributing to the fight against hunger, care must be taken to ensuring that food is available (agricultural production), adequate (nutrition) and accessible (access to markets, services and credit) for all members of target communities. In a constant
effort to diversify livelihood opportunities and harness communities’ untapped potential, Gorta works with local groups to build their capacity and capability to thrive in their own development, as well as their ability to cope with distress, and be in a position to choose their preferred future in a shift from subsistence to entrepreneurship. Gorta believes Ireland, because of its history, the experience of famine, and its known longstanding commitment to overseas development, is in a perfect position to lead international efforts in the fight against hunger. In so doing, Ireland can demonstrate the powerful synergies that can be created by harnessing the collective efforts of Government, Civil Society and the private sector – all united against hunger. 5
For more information contact Isabella Rae, Senior Technical Advisor, Gorta Hunger Secretariat at isabella.rae@gorta.org Gorta-The Freedom from Hunger Council of Ireland, 12 Herbert Street, Dublin 2. Web www.gorta.org email info@gorta.org tel 01 6615522. Charity number IRL: CHY 5678 Cover page: Maize grown by the Mungulonya Income Security Group, Mungulonyo, Uganda. The group are supported by Gorta through the provision of training, seeds and tools
Printed on 100% recycled paper
All information correct at time of going to print. Š gorta 2010. design: www.cronindesigns.ie ref: 001674
Shonga and Sammy attend the Claremont Preschool and Home Visit in Pinetown, South Africa, which is supported by Gorta’s local partner through teacher training and homecare