Background

In its resolution 76/166 dated 16 December 2021, the UN General Assembly requested that the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food submit to its next session in 2022 a report examining the emerging issues concerning the realization of the right to food, in particular in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on food security and nutrition.

In the lead up to the report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, will organize consultations with stakeholders that will inform his subsequent report. The questionnaire below is an exercise in collective reflection on the effects of the pandemic on food security and nutrition in the last two years and an attempt to explore solutions to improve human rights-based response to future crises. As the World Health Organization regularly reminds us, we should expect more global pandemics in the near future.

Objectives

How is COVID-19 affecting our food security, and what should be done to address those challenges?

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected not only the health of individuals and communities, but has also had profound implications on the different dimensions of food security and nutrition. How the world responds to the pandemic and its impacts on our food security over the next two years will determine the future of our food systems for decades to come.

The international consensus is that the pandemic revealed already existing fragilities within food systems and immediate effects of climate change. It amplified injustice, discrimination and inequalities, with women and other persons in vulnerable situations bearing the brunt of the impact and economic shock. It made it harder for small-scale food producers to access resources they needed and to sell their products. And in some cases, it led to a rise in evictions and large-scale land acquisitions. The closure and disruption of schools caused an increase in hunger amongst children. Lack of adequate social and safety protection measures combined with restrictions of movements have had a disproportionate impact on frontline food producers and workers, who are essential but are treated as expendable. At times during the past two years, food prices have risen to record-breaking rates.

There has been a lack of a multilateral policy coordination and response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on food security and nutrition. This is despite the pandemic’s illustration that food systems are interconnected with other global systems related to health, economy, and environment. An appropriate policy response therefore requires broad consultations, profound assessment, and close coordination across different governance systems – nationally and internationally – to address the diverse ways in which COVID-19 is affecting food security and nutrition.

There is great interest and desire amongst a large number of Member States and international organizations to work together. During its last session in October 2021, the Committee on World Food Security agreed to continue its deliberations on COVID-19’s impacts on food systems, agriculture, and nutrition. The first step towards reorienting food policies is to analyse the shortcomings of the current food systems from a multilateral and human rights perspective and envisage a participative process for imagining a different future. Once we address short-term concerns caused by the pandemic, it is important to explore policy solutions to build longer-term food system resilience. Only if food systems flourish in a way that is equitable, healthy, and regenerative for the environment and the societies will we be able to get out of this crisis. More information on the Special Rapporteur’s perspectives on food systems reform could be found in his 2021 report to the UN General Assembly.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

Define scope and what you would like contributors to provide. Include links to download a questionnaire, or to access the Draft General Comment, if relevant. See examples below:

Download the questionnaire (PDF) and Draft General comment on the impact of the COVID-19 on the right to food: English | Français | Español