GENDER AND NUTRITION Gender Nutrition and the Human

GENDER AND NUTRITION Gender, Nutrition and the Human Right to Adequate Food: towards an inclusive approach for sustainable rural development Dr. Stefanie Lemke, University of Hohenheim “Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis” Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, January 25 -26, 2013 Panel III: Beyond Food Security: The Concepts of Food Sovereignty and Meal Security

GENDER AND NUTRITION Participatory Gendered Approaches Rights-Based (? ) § People as actors, not recipients: q rights vs. needs; q participation vs. patronizing measures § Emphasis on micro-level: q How do people themselves reflect and analyze their situation? q What are people’s capabilities, livelihood and coping strategies? q What are underlying gender issues - impact of direct/structural violence on access to resources, livelihoods, food and nutrition security? Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 2

GENDER AND NUTRITION Right To Adequate Food § „The right to food is the right to have regular, permanent and unrestricted access, either directly or by means of financial purchase, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate and sufficient food corresponding to the cultural traditions of the people to which the consumer belongs, and which ensures a physical and mental, individual and collective, fulfilling and dignified life free of fear. “ (Ziegler et al. , 2011: 15) Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 3

GENDER AND NUTRITION Right To Adequate Food, Food Sovereignty Food sovereignty can be seen as a condition for genuine food security, and the right to adequate food as a political tool to achieve it. (Windfuhr and Jonsén, 2005) . Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 4

GENDER AND NUTRITION Right To Adequate Food § UDHR (1948), Article 25 § ICESCR (1966), Article 11 § CRC (1989), Articles 24 and 27 § World Food Summits (1996 & 2002) – Official FAO declarations, later integrating recommendations from CSOs § General Comment 12 to ICESCR (1999) § Voluntary Guidelines to support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security (FAO 2005) § FAO established Right to Food Unit (2006) Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 5

GENDER AND NUTRITION Human Rights-based Approach (HRBA) to assess the missing dimension of power relations • Provides better understanding of the way power impacts on the production and reproduction of poverty • brings power issues to the centre • emphasizes equity, identifies social exclusion, prioritizes the poorest of the poor • emphasizes accountability, could provide leverage to mobilization and collective action demanding more accountability from governments (Source: Moser et al. , 2001; FAO, 2011 b ) Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 6

GENDER AND NUTRITION How to integrate a rights-based approach? Voluntary Guidelines: provide voluntary reporting guidance to State Parties, and to Civil Society Screen State Action: specifically advises civil society how to participate in work of Human Rights Treaty Bodies Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 7

GENDER AND NUTRITION Voluntary Guidelines (FAO 2005) Themes 1. Democracy, good governance, human 11. rights and the rule of law Education and awareness raising 2. Economic development policies 12. National financial resources 3. Strategies 13. Support for vulnerable groups 4. Market systems 14. Safety nets 5. Institutions 15. International food aid 6. Stakeholders 16. Natural and human-made disasters 7. Legal framework 17. Monitoring, indicators and 8. Access to resources and assets benchmarks 9. Food safety and consumer protection 18. National human rights institutions 10. Nutrition 19. International dimension Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 8

GENDER AND NUTRITION Voluntary Guidelines (FAO 2005) Themes 1. Democracy, good governance, human 11. rights and the rule of law Education and awareness raising 2. Economic development policies 12. National financial resources 3. Strategies 13. Support for vulnerable groups 4. Market systems 14. Safety nets 5. Institutions 15. International food aid 6. Stakeholders 16. Natural and human-made disasters 7. Legal framework 17. Monitoring, indicators and 8. Access to resources and assets benchmarks 9. Food safety and consumer protection 18. National human rights institutions 10. Nutrition 19. International dimension Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 9

GENDER AND NUTRITION Screen state action against hunger! FIAN (2007) § Questions provided for each guideline, e. g. Guideline 8 – Access to resources and assets 2. Do women have the right to inherit and possess land other property? Do women or any rural group suffer discrimination in the entitlement to natural resources rights, to productive resources rights, to labor rights? Do customs/customary laws exist that denies women’s equal entitlement to natural and productive resources rights? Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 10

GENDER AND NUTRITION Screen state action against hunger! FIAN (2007) Guideline 10 – Nutrition 2. Do State policies include programs or projects aimed at confronting the different nutritional problems of the various social groups? Example: Malnutrition of girls and women, as a consequence of the unequal food distribution within the family, where gender discrimination is the cause of malnutrition. In this case, the institution should offer educational programs on consumption habits with a gender perspective. (p 40) Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 11

GENDER AND NUTRITION Gender, Nutrition, and the Human Right to Adequate Food: towards an inclusive framework An academic-NGO collaborative research and advocacy project University of Hohenheim, Dept. Gender & Nutrition FIAN, GIFA/IBFAN Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 12

GENDER AND NUTRITION I. Two “Disconnects” that frustrate women’s right to adequate food and nutrition 1. Structural isolation of women's rights from the right to adequate food within key international human rights treaties v International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966) v Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979) v Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989) 2. Isolation of nutrition from the right to adequate food v inordinate focus on food stuffs and their production v over-medicalization of nutrition Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 13

GENDER AND NUTRITION II. Violence against women and girls v Recognize and address that, ranging in form from direct/aggressive to structural, violence is an underexamined barrier to women’s right to adequate food and to their participation as autonomous and participatory members of efforts to address hunger and food insecurity Structural violence is a process aligned with social injustice that “is built into [social] structure and shows up as unequal power and consequently as unequal life chances. “ (Galtung 1969: 171) Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 14

GENDER AND NUTRITION III. Intertwined subjectivities of maternal-child health and nutrition v Address malnutrition a) across life cycles as a life long human rights deprivation – not only as function of nutrition; or in pregnancy and infancy; b) as inter-generational causality of hunger, poverty, growth failure. v Support local and sustainable interventions, e. g. , breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, reproductive rights & health v Avoid nutrition interventions that: a) have built-in conflicts of interests, b) prioritize short term, medicalized and locally nonsustainable solutions, c) threaten women’s and community’s right to dignity and self-determination. Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 15

GENDER AND NUTRITION IV. Food systems, gender & participation v Emphasize more localized and sustainable food and nutrition systems with agro-ecology approaches supporting smaller-scaled farmers. v Democratize food governance at diverse scales. v Support local knowledge (cf. : IAASTD; FAO Voluntary Guidelines; food sovereignty movements). v Mainstream women in all above, recognizing and addressing the barriers and challenges they face. Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 16

GENDER AND NUTRITION V. Introducing an expanded conceptual framework for the Right to Adequate Food and Nutrition v Rights-based approach potent tool to promote a more precise diagnosis of the root causes of inequities v Integrating gender & women‘s rights, nutrition and food sovereignty v Participatory, social movement-led reconceptualization to avoid artificial fragmentation of conceptual, legal and institutional frameworks and associated ineffective policies against hunger and malnutrition Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 17

GENDER AND NUTRITION Progress and Future Plans v Monitoring, research v Advocacy with governments through UN bodies (HCHR, FAO, WHO, CFS, CEDAW, CRC, UNICEF, intl. CSOs, Special Rapporteur on Rt. F) v Capacity building v Networking, joint campaigning v Dissemination of information & publishing both in academic and non-academic circles; book Routledge Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 18

GENDER AND NUTRITION Conclusion & Outlook § Despite laws aimed at implementing the Right to Adequate Food impact often minor § Call from countries of the global South: States and CSOs should support mobilization and self -organization of marginalized groups, whose social movements have a key role to play in achieving sustainable livelihoods, food and nutrition security (Conference Policies against Hunger, Working group 2: Access to Land; Berlin, Nov 2011) Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 19

GENDER AND NUTRITION “Our secret weapon against hunger: Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 20

GENDER AND NUTRITION FAO Toolbox – Methods to Monitor the Human Right to Adequate Food Humboldt-Universität Berlin, 25 -26 Jan. 2013 Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Development in Times of Crisis 21