The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2010
Press Release
LAND GRABBING AND NUTRITION:
CHALLENGES FOR GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
To be launched in Abidjan, Amsterdam, Andhra Pradesh, Bamenda, Bangui, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Cotonou, Dakar, Delhi, Geneva, Grenoble, Helsinki, Málaga, Mexico city, New Orleans, New York, Ouagadougou, Penang, Rome, Sokodé, Utrecht, Venice and Vienna.
Heidelberg/Stuttgart/Utrecht, October 7, 2010 - On the occasion of World Food Day 2010, the second issue of the Right to Food and Nutrition Watch will be presented to the public in over twenty countries by representatives of the thirteen civil society organizations that are working together to publish this review. The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch is the first and only international periodical review that monitors state actors’ actions related to the realization of the right to food and nutrition.
Key messages of the Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2010:
- The unacceptable number of 925 million people suffering chronic hunger in a world that has enough food for all is a call for a profound turnaround in international food and nutrition related policies.
- The far-reaching governance reforms of the global food system initiated in 2009 are a signal of hope. In particular the consensus to establish a more participatory Committee on World Food Security (CFS) as the one global platform for coordination is an important step forward.
- However, the new CFS needs to show its effectiveness by taking strong action against land grabbing and speculation in food commodity markets and by mainstreaming nutrition into global strategies against hunger.
- The dramatic increase of land grabbing (large scale land acquisitions of international investors) is alarming. The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch shows how land grabbing aggravates hunger in Africa, Asia and Latin America by leading to eviction of peasant communities from their main source of livelihood. During the last 3 years, between 20 and 50 million hectares have fallen into international investors’ hand, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
- The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch makes a strong call to hold governments and international actors to account under international human rights law by monitoring the effects of national and international policies and investments. When politicians or companies are found to be responsible for generating hunger, their actions need to be investigated and adequate measures must be taken.
Published annually, the Right to Food and Nutrition Watch is a powerful tool to put pressure on policymakers at the national and international level to take the human right to food and nutrition into account. The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch provides a platform for human rights experts, civil society activists, social movements, the media, and scholars to exchange experiences on how best to carry out right to food and nutrition work, including lobbying and advocacy.
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Published by: Brot für die Welt (Bread for the World), FIAN International and Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO)
Consortium Members: African Network on the Right to Food (ANoRF), Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), DanChurchAid, Habitat International Coalition (HIC), Observatory Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, People's Health Movement (PHM), Inter-American Platform for Human Rights, Democracy and Development (PIDHDD), Rights and Democracy, World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), and World Organization against Torture (OMCT).
Available in English, Spanish and French. Published in October 2010. www.rtfn-watch.org