RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD
The right to an adequate standard of living requires, at a minimum, that everyone shall enjoy
the necessary subsistence rights: adequate food and nutrition, clothing, housing and the
necessary conditions of care when required. The essential point is that everyone shall be able,
without shame and without unreasonable obstacles, to be a full participant in ordinary,
everyday interaction with other people. Thus, people should be able to enjoy their basic needs
in conditions of dignity. No one should have to live in conditions whereby the only way to
satisfy their needs is by degrading themselves or depriving themselves of their basic freedoms,
such as through begging, prostitution or forced labour.
The right of everyone to an adequate standard of living includes the right to adequate food. The
right to food is accomplished when every man, woman and child, alone or in a community with
others, has physical and economic access at all times to adequate food or the means for its
procurement. The right to food has to be realised progressively. However, the state has a core
obligation to take the necessary action to mitigate and alleviate hunger.
The core content of the right to adequate food includes the following elements:
a) Availability of food: In a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of
individuals. Dietary needs implies that the diet as a whole contains a mix of nutrients for
physical and mental growth, development and maintenance, and physical activity that are in
compliance with human physiological needs at all stages throughout the life cycle and
according to gender and occupation. Measures may therefore need to be taken to maintain,
adapt or strengthen dietary diversity and appropriate consumption and feeding patterns,
including breast-feeding, while ensuring that changes in availability and access to food supply
at the very least do not negatively affect dietary composition and intake.
b) Food safety: Food should be free from adverse substances. States should establish a range
of protective measures by both public and private means to prevent contamination of foodstuffs
through adulteration and/or through bad environmental hygiene or inappropriate handling at
different stages throughout the food chain; care must also be taken to identify and avoid or
destroy naturally occurring toxins.
c) Acceptability: Food should be acceptable within a given culture. Cultural or consumer
acceptability implies the need also to take into account, as far as possible, perceived non
nutrient-based values attached to food and food consumption and informed consumer concerns
regarding the nature of accessible food supplies..
d) Accessibility: This encompasses both economic and physical accessibility.
Economic accessibility: implies that personal or household financial costs associated with the
acquisition of food for an adequate diet should be at a level such that the attainment and
satisfaction of other basic needs are not threatened or compromised. Economic accessibility
applies to any acquisition pattern or entitlement through which people procure their food and
is a measure of the extent to which it is satisfactory for the enjoyment of the right to adequate
food. Socially vulnerable groups, such as landless persons and other particularly impoverished
segments of the population may need attention through special programmes.
Physical accessibility: implies that adequate food must be accessible to everyone, including
physically vulnerable individuals, such as infants and young children, elderly people, the
physically disabled, the terminally ill and persons with persistent medical problems, including
the mentally ill. Victims of natural disasters, people living in disaster-prone areas and other
specially disadvantaged groups may need special attention and sometimes priority
consideration with respect to accessibility of food. A particular vulnerability is that of many
indigenous population groups whose access to their ancestral lands may be threatened.
International Instruments
1. According to Article 25(1) UDHR, ‘everyone has the right to a standard of living
adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family’. This provision sets
out some of the elements of this right: a) food; b) clothing; c) housing; d) medical care;
and e) necessary social services.
2. Under Article 11 ICESCR, everyone has the right to ‘an adequate standard of living for
himself and his family’. It also explicitly recognizes “the fundamental right of everyone
to be free from hunger”. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has
issued several General Comments explaining the components of this right including the
right to food (General Comment 12).
3. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
recognizes the right of pregnant and lactating women to nutrition in article 12 (2) in the
context of maternity protection.
4. The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the right of children to adequate
nutrition in article 24 (2) (c) and (e) in the context of the right to health and in article
27 (3) in the context of the right to an adequate standard of living.
5. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes the right to food
in article 25 (f) in the context of the right to health and in article 28 (1) in the context
of the right to an adequate standard of living and social protection.
6. FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION (FAO): The aim of the FAO is
to achieve food security for all. In this regard, it is important to recall the World Food
Summit, convened by FAO in 1996. As a result of this meeting, 112 heads or deputy
heads of state and government, and over 70 high-level representatives from other
countries, adopted the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food
Summit Plan of Action. The Rome Declaration sets forth seven commitments, which
lay the basis for achieving sustainable food security for all, while the Plan of Action
spells out the objectives and actions relevant for practical implementation of these
seven commitments. The Declaration and Plan of Action establish a particular follow-
up mechanism through co-operation between the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, FAO and its Committee on World Food Security as well as other food
organisations, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Sub-Committee on
Nutrition of the United Nations Administrative Coordinating Committee (ACC-SCN)
and other bodies.
7. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food established by the UN
Commission on Human Rights includes monitoring the situation of the right to food
throughout the world and identifying general trends related to the right to food. The
Rapporteur undertakes country visits and communicates with states and other
concerned parties with regard to alleged cases of violations of the right to food and
other issues related to his/her mandate, on the basis of, inter alia, individual complaints.
The Special Rapporteur, furthermore, promotes the full realisation of the right to food
through dialogue with relevant actors by participating in seminars, conferences and
expert meetings. The express linkages between the rights to water and food have been
dealt with in the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food.
Cases
In Yakye Axa v. Paraguay, the Inter-American Court interpreted the right to life protection of
Article 4 ACHR to encompass the right to food and health standards.
In the African system, the African Commission has issued a landmark decision in The Social
and Economic Rights Action Centre v. Nigeria with regard to the right to housing and the right
to food. The right to food was held to bind states to protect and improve existing food sources
and to ensure access to adequate food for all citizens. The minimum core of this right obliges
the government to desist from destroying or contaminating food sources or from allowing
private actors to contaminate food sources or to prevent people’s efforts to feed themselves.
Indian Position
1. Freedom from hunger has been recognized as a part of the right to life under Article 21
of the Constitution.
2. Article 47 specifies that it is the responsibility of the states to increase the level of
nutrition and standards of living of its citizens.
3. Apart from the Indian Constitution, the National Food Security Act 2003 otherwise
known as the Right to Food Act was enacted by the Indian Parliament to provide food
grains to two-thirds of the total population of India at a subsidized rate. This was a
governmental intervention to facilitate food security in the country. To achieve this,
states have made several endeavours like initiating new schemes like the Midday Meal
Scheme, Targeted Public Distribution System, which was proposed under the National
Food Security Act. It is the obligation of the states to maintain the standard of living of
their citizens, this is achieved by the right to food which is recognised under Article 21
and facilitated under Article 47.
4. Case Laws
RIGHT TO FORM AND JOIN TRADE UNION
The right to form and join trade unions and its negative component, the right not to join and
form unions, is a particular aspect of the right to freedom of association joined with the right
to work. This right includes, for instance, the right of unions to administer their own affairs,
join federations and international organisations, and draw up their own rules. It encompasses
the rights of persons to be elected to and act within unions without intimidation and the right
not to join without fear of retribution.
The freedom of association is multifaceted; it encompasses the right to form and join
association freely, but in order for the right to be enjoyed, associations themselves must be free
from excessive interference from governments. This entails that the right has aspects of both
an individual and a collective right.
Closely related is the right to strike. The right to strike is one of the most important tools trade
unions can apply to protect their interests, but it has to be exercised in conformity with relevant
national law. A general prohibition of strikes for public employees may be considered an
excessive restriction on the possibilities open to trade unions to further their interests.
International and Regional Instruments
1. The UDHR sets out that ‘everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association’, that ‘no one may be compelled to belong to an association’ and that
‘everyone has the right to form and join trade unions’ (Article 20).
2. Article 8 ICESCR sets out the right to form trade unions, the rights of trade unions to
form federations, the rights of trade unions to function freely though subject to certain
limitations and the right to strike.
3. Article 15 CRC stipulates the right of children to freedom of association.
4. Article 26 CMW recognises the right of migrant workers to join and seek the aid and
assistance of trade unions.
5. Article 11 ECHR sets out the right to freedom of assembly and association, as well as
the right to form and join trade unions.
6. Article 16 ACHR sets out the right and its limitations and Article 8 Protocol of San
Salvador sets out the right to form and join trade unions.
Cases
The Human Rights Committee found violations of the freedom when trade-union activists were
subjected to harassment by authorities because of their trade-union activities (Lopez Burgos v.
Uruguay).
Indian Position
1. The Constitution of India protects and promotes the right to collective bargaining under
Article 19 of the Constitution of India under two significant provisions:
(i) Freedom of speech and expression:
Article 19(1)(a) provides the right to freedom of speech and expression which is
one of the most important fundamental rights which provide every citizen to
express their views or to express dissent. Thus, every citizen has the right to
speech and expression, which can be exercised individually or in groups.
(ii) The right to form an association or union:
Article 19(1)(c) provides the right to form an association or union which can be
said to the foundation of the trade unions in India.
2. The Trade Union Act, 1926[5] was adopted to provide procedures for the registration
of trade unions in India and provides for legal provisions related to the registered trade
union. The Act sets forth the rights and responsibilities of a registered trade union under
Chapter III of the Trade Union Act, 1926
