The Human Right To Food And The Post-1991 Ethiopian States Obligation A Case Study On Simada Woreda And Gulele Sub-city

This dissertation examines the state of the human right to food and the post-1991 [Ethiopian] state’srncompliance with its human right to food obligations as envisaged by the relevant international humanrnrights instruments, i.e. the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the InternationalrnConvention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The study was undertaken in varyingrnsocio-economic contexts of Ethiopia, among the communities living in the rural Simada Woreda in thernAmhara National Regional State and urban Gulele Sub-city of the Addis Ababa City. Deriving from thernright to existence, the human right to food guarantees every human being the entitlement to be freernfrom hunger and to have unrestricted access to food that is adequate in both quantity and quality thatrnin turn would enable the right holder to live a healthy and active life. In this respect, in its very essence,rnthe human right to food entitles right holders to have access to the means to feed themselves in dignity.rnDespite the affirmation of the right by the UDHR and the ICESCR since the second quarter of the 20thrncentury, the right to food remains to be one of the most violated human rights around the world. As perrnthe recent estimates of the FAO (2017), about 1 billion people around the world and about 40 millionrnpeople in Ethiopia have been victims of hunger and undernutrition. The central aim of this study is,rntherefore, to investigate the state of the realization of the human right to food in varying socioeconomicrncontexts of Ethiopia, in the rural Simada woreda of the Amhara National Regional State and GulelernSub-city of Addis Ababa City Administration. For this purpose, the study has adopted a qualitativernmultidisciplinary case study approach. Accordingly, information was gathered through documentrnanalysis, interviews, and focus group discussion. The state of the realization of the human right to foodrnhas been analyzed based on the human right to food constituting elements; availability, accessibility,rnand adequacy and correspondingly, the compliance of the state to the right to food obligations has beenrninvestigated on the basis of state obligation normative standards; recognition, respect, protection andrnfulfilment of the right, respectively. The finding of the study reveals that the human right to food isrncurrently a mass violated right in the case study areas. The existing national legislation and policies ofrnthe state are not adequately addressing the demands of the realization of the human right to food. Often,rnas discussed in chapter four and following chapters, the national legislation and policies of the staternand their implementation rather than providing the required respect and protection, they themselvesrncontravene with the right. Though the Constitution of Ethiopia has paid tribute to the ICESCR by givingrnit access to the local legal system (Article 9(4) and Article 13(2)) and the human right to food can alsornbe presumed as a guaranteed right within the purview of right to life, Article 15, an overt and expressrnprovision protecting the human right to food is lacking. At the level of practice, apart from foreignfundedrnfood aid and the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) of the government which is currentlyrnunder implementation only in selected rural Woredas, there has been no alternative or available socialrnsecurity scheme to the most and the chronically food-insecure people in Ethiopia. Particularly, to therndismay of the urban poor, PSNP and other safety net program are not yet functionally available. Onrntop of this, the government is not opting to put the right to food among its policy priority list, in bothrnrural and urban contexts. This thesis, therefore, argues, there is a compelling need to recognize thernhuman right to food expressly and unequivocally under the human rights chapter of the FDRErnconstitution. For such a recognition would be a major milestone, though not a panacea, to address thernproblem. It would facilitate the realization of the right to food, and help the state and its agencies torncomply with their constitutional obligations to the right and to hold them accountable accordingly.rnApart from this, a human right to food legal framework would support the effort to better realize thernright by providing the details on the right and its means of enforcement. Moreover, it is argued herernthat there is a need for a paradigmatic shift in policy approach from ‘food security’ to ‘foodrnsovereignty’. For food security is a technical term, not a legal one, and does not put a duty on the staternfor the realization of the same. On the other hand, food sovereignty, both as a policy alternative and arngrass-root social movement, underscores food as a fundamental human right. Therefore, as discussedrnin chapter seven, it would be instrumental to the realization of the right. Finally, yet importantly, thisrnstudy has suggested that through more democratic governance that ensures participation,rnaccountability, non-discrimination, transparency, human dignity, empowerment, and rule of law thernhuman right to food can be better realized.

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