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2014 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

Implementing the Right to Food in Uganda: Advances, Challenges and the Way Forward

verfasst von : Isabella Rae

Erschienen in: Rethinking Food Systems

Verlag: Springer Netherlands

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Abstract

This chapter explores action taken at legal, policy and institutional levels to advance the right to food in Uganda. Particular emphasis is placed on the present draft Bill for a Food and Nutrition Act and the way in which this legal tool aims to assist in determining the dynamics of the food system in Uganda and in suggesting a possible replicable model for other African countries. In particular, the extent to which the Bill incorporates international human rights norms and the principles of respect, protect and fulfill is discussed. The role of law in promoting and protecting the right to food is explored within the broader framework of those structural, social and economic dynamics which influence and affect the creation of an enabling environment. Some suggestions are advanced in relation to possible ways to make legal mechanisms more effective in addressing current shortfalls in local food systems.

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Fußnoten
1
The population of Uganda has a per capita daily caloric intake of 2,247 and 20 % of children are undernourished and underweight, while 32 % are undernourished with stunted growth. Of the 34 million overall population, 6.1 million, or 21 % of Ugandans suffer undernourishment. See U.N. Food & Ag. Org. [FAO], Country Brief: Uganda (2012). About 40 % of all rural people—some 10 million men, women and children—still live in abject poverty. See Int’l Fund for Agr. Dev. [IFAD], Rural Poverty Country Profile (2012).
 
2
Amartya Sen, Poverty and Famines—An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (1981).
 
3
Id. at 1.
 
4
UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT TO FOOD, OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER, COUNTRIES TACKLING HUNGER WITH A RIGHT TO FOOD APPROACH – SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING THE RIGHT TO FOOD AT NATIONAL SCALE IN AFRICA, LATIN AMERICA AND SOUTH ASIA 1 (Briefing Note 1, May 1, 2010).
 
5
U.N. Econ. & Soc. Council [ECOSOC], Comm. on Econ., Soc. & Cultural Rts. [CESCR], General Comment No. 12: The Right to Adequate Food, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/1999/5 (May 12, 1999) [hereinafter General Comment No. 12).
 
6
On legislating for the right to food, see, Dubravka Bojic Bultrini, Guide on Legislating for the Right to Food (FAO, 2009).
 
7
M. Akehurst, Modern Introduction to International Law 45 (1987).
 
8
National Constitution of Uganda, 1995, Objective XIV(b).
 
9
Id. at Objective XXII.
 
10
Dejo Olowu, Constitutional Interpretation and the Notion of Unenumerated Rights: Circumventing the Exclusion of Socio-Economic Rights in Africa (ANCL-RADC Annual Conference, The Internationalisation of Constitutional Law, Working Paper, 2011).
 
11
See, e.g., German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) and German Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), BVerfGE 1, 97 (104 et sequ), BVerwGE 1, 159 (161), BVerwGE 25, 23(27), BVerfGE 40, 121 (134), BVerfGE 45, 187 (229), BVerfGE 82, 60 (85), BVerfGE 87, 153 (169).
 
12
Rarasea v. State, Criminal Appeal Case No. HAA0027 of 12 May 2000 (Fiji).
 
13
India Supreme Court, People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India and Others, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 196 (2001) (India).
 
14
Supreme Court of Bangladesh (High Court Division), Dr Mohiuddin Farooque v. Bangladesh and Others (No.1) (July 1, 1996) (Bangl.).
 
15
Prakash Mani Sharma and others on behalf of Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro-Public) v. Prime Minister and Office of Council of Ministers and Others, Writ Petition No. 0065-w0-149 of 2065 BS (2008) (Nepal).
 
16
G v. An Bord Uchtala, 2005 (Ir.).
 
17
This recommendation was made on the occasion of a National Seminar on the Implementation of the Right to Adequate Food, held in Jinja, Uganda, organized by the Uganda Human Rights Commission, the MAAIF, Makerere University and the Oslo-based International Project on the Right to Food in Development.
 
18
U.N. Food & Ag. Org. [FAO], Right to Food Legal Database, available at http://​www.​fao.​org/​righttofood/​kc/​legal_​db_​en.​asp?​lang=​EN.
 
19
General Comment No. 12, supra note 5.
 
20
Interview with Peter Milton Rukundo, Kyambogo University Lecturer and PhD Research Fellow (June 2012).
 
21
See International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, art. 11.2, G.A. Res. 2200A, U.N. Doc. A/RES/21/2200A (Dec. 16, 1966) (“The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programs, which are needed: (a) To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources; (b) Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need.”).
 
22
Draft Bill for a Food and Nutrition Act, 2008, art. 2.1 (Uganda).
 
23
Id. at art. 3.
 
24
Id. at art. 7.
 
25
Id. at art. 4.
 
26
Id. at art. 3.
 
27
See Alexander Nékám, Experiences in African customary law (1966); T.W. Bennett, The Application of Customary Law in Southern Africa: The Conflict of Personal Laws 1–16 (1985). See also Martin Chanock, Neither Customary nor Legal: African Customary Law in an Era of Family Law Reform, Int’l J. L. Pol’ y Fam. 72, 72–88 (1989).
 
28
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, art. 27, June 27, 1981, CAB/LEG/67/3 rev. 5, 21 I.L.M. 58 (1982).
 
29
Draft Bill for a Food and Nutrition Act, supra note 22, at art. 7
 
30
Id. at art. 40 (1).
 
31
Id. at art. 40.
 
32
In the case of judicial remedies, an individual alleging to be the victim of a violation is afforded access to a review procedure before a court, with subsequent granting of a remedy upon verification of the violation. Remedies include: restitution, cessation of the violation, rehabilitation and compensation. In the case of administrative remedies on the other hand, individuals can access government ministries, agencies and other non-judicial bodies. The exhaustion of administrative processes is in some countries a pre-requisite for bringing a case to court.
 
33
Draft Bill for a Food and Nutrition Act, supra note 22, at art. 10.
 
34
Id. at art. 31.
 
35
The Uganda Farmers Federation has been involved in the drafting process although their contribution has been rather limited, possibly due to their network being somewhat fragmented and more devoted to commercial farming than subsistence—a factor which may also lead to less emphasis on human rights. The group has been supportive and could be more effectively engaged in the future to bring this process forward. See Uganda Farmers Federation, http://​www.​unffe.​org/​.
 
36
The Nutrition Action Plan is discussed infra at sec. 2.​2.​1.
 
37
The Food Rights Alliance (FRA) is a membership organization comprising 56 local, national and international organizations active in the field of agriculture and food security programming in Uganda.
 
38
National Constitution of Uganda, supra note 8, at art. 52.
 
39
Cullet Philippe, Food Security and Intellectual Property Rights in Developing Countries 37 (2003), quoted in Bultrini, supra note 6, at 187.
 
40
See relevant observations prepared by Uwe Kracht in support of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Elaboration of a Set of Voluntary Guidelines for the realization of the Right to Food in the Context of National Food Security: Uwe Kracht, Right to Food Case Study: Uganda, RTFG/INF.4/APP.4, 34035 (2004). See also Peter Rukundo, Uganda: Joining Forces for the Right to Food, in Right to Food: Making it Happen—Process and Lessons Learned Through Implementation, 135, 147–48, 156 (FAO, 2011).
 
41
These include sectoral laws such as the Food and Drug Act of 1959, the Water Act of 1997, the Children Act of 1997, the Penal Code Act of 1950, the Adulteration of Produce Act of 2000, the Plant Protection Act of 2000, the National Agricultural Advisory Services Act of 2001, the Land Act with Amendment of 2009, the Agricultural Chemicals Act of 2007, the Public Health Act of 1935 and the National Environment Act of 1995.
 
42
Bultrini, supra note 6, at 188.
 
43
The Education (Pre-primary, Primary and Post-primary) Act, 2008 (Uganda).
 
44
Draft Bill for a Food and Nutrition Act, 2008, art. 5.3 (Uganda).
 
45
Id. at art. 5.4.
 
46
Id. at art. 34.1(b).
 
47
Id. at art. 34.1 (c).
 
48
See National Agricultural Advisory Services, NAADS Guiding Principles, available at http://​www.​naads.​or.​ug/​guiding-principles-2/​poverty-targeting/​.
 
49
Uganda Food and Nutrition Bill, supra note 44, at art. 36.
 
50
Several countries have adopted food and nutrition security strategies and poverty reduction strategies that are rights-based, in particular: Angola, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cap Verde, Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. U.N. Food & Ag. Org. [FAO], Right to Food Policy and Strategy Database, available at http://​www.​fao.​org/​righttofood/​inaction/​ajustice_​strategylist_​en.​htm.
 
51
U.N. Food & Ag. Org. [FAO], Voluntary Guideline to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security guideline 3.6 (2004).
 
52
Uganda Food and Nutrition Policy (2003), sect. 2.​3.​1 (Uganda).
 
53
Id. at Foreword.
 
54
Id. at sec. 2.2.i-2.2.viii.
 
55
Id. at sec. 7.
 
56
Id. at sec. 4.
 
57
Id. at sec. 4.3.
 
58
Uganda Draft National Food and Nutrition Strategy and Investment Plan (2005).
 
59
See relevant observations made by Kracht, supra note 40, at 22–33 and by Rukundo, supra note 40, at 140–44.
 
60
See e.g. Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) (1997); Universal Primary Education Policy, 1997; National Health Policy (1999); Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (2003); National Orphans and other Vulnerable Children Policy (2004); National Policy for Internally Displaced Persons (2004); Uganda National Culture Policy (2006); Land Policy (2010); Agriculture Sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan (2010/11–2014/15); Health Sector Strategic Plan (2010/11–2014/15); and, Nutrition Action Plan (2011–2016).
 
61
Foreword, Nutrition Action Plan. For more information on the Uganda National Development Plan, see Uganda National Development Plan 2010/2011–2014/2015, April 2010. For more information on the Nutrition Action Plan, see Uganda Nutrition Action Plan 2011–2016: Scaling up Multi-Sectoral Efforts to Establish a Strong Nutrition Foundation for Uganda’s Development (Nov. 2011).
 
62
See Uganda Nutrition Action Plan 2011–2016, supra note 61, at sec. 2.
 
63
On the need for coordination mechanisms as key in the implementation of the right to food, see: U.N. Food & Ag. Org. [FAO], The Right to Food Guidelines—Information Papers and Case Studies (2006) and Bultrini, supra note 6.
 
64
The Bolivia Food Security Council was re-established under the Brazil National Council for Food and Nutrition Security model.
 
65
Brazil created the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security (CONSEA), composed 2/3 by civil society organizations and 1/3 by Government representatives. CONSEA reports directly to the President, and is tasked with advising the government on guidelines and policies to advance the right to food in the country.
 
66
See Guatemala National Council for Food and Nutrition Security (CONASAN).
 
67
Malawi created the National Food and Nutrition Security Committee, which reports to the Cabinet Committee on Food and Nutrition chaired by the President.
 
68
In Mozambique, the Technical Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security within the Ministry of Agriculture is tasked with advising the government on food security and right to food related policy with a view to integrating the right into relevant policies and programs.
 
69
In Nicaragua, the National Commission on Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security, attached to the Office of the President of the Republic.
 
70
In Peru, the Multisectoral Commission on Food Security was created within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
 
71
On the rationale for establishing similar commissions see Paris Principles Relating to the Status of National Institutions, G.A. Res. 48/134, U.N. Doc. A/RES/48/134 (Dec. 20, 1993).
 
72
Examples can be found in Brazil, Canada, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Malawi, Mali, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Uganda, and South Africa. Most of these are tasked with the promotion and protection of human rights in general; some mandates refer specifically to economic and social rights (like, for instance, the South African one) and others to the right to food (like, for instance, in the case of Brazil, where a Special Commission to Monitor Violations of the Right to Food was established).
 
73
Draft Bill for a Food and Nutrition Act, supra note 22, at art. 13.
 
74
Id. at art. 11.
 
75
Id. at art. 29.
 
76
Rukundo, supra note 40, at 144.
 
77
The PMA is part of the Government of Uganda’s broader strategy of poverty eradication contained in the poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) of 1997. The PEAP was revised in 2004 to cover the period 2004/2005–2007/2008. Its main objectives are to: increase incomes and improve the quality of life of poor subsistence farmers by increasing their productivity and share of marketed production; improve household food security through the market rather than emphasizing self-sufficiency; provide gainful employment to the rural poor through the secondary benefits of investments in agro-processing factories and services; promote sustainable use and management of natural resources by developing a land use and management policy; and the promotion of environmentally friendly agricultural technologies. See Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture Objectives, available at http://​www.​pma.​go.​ug/​page.​php?​tb=​aboutus.
 
78
Uganda National Development Plan 2010/11–2014/15, adopted in 2010.
 
79
National Constitution of Uganda, supra note 8, at art. 52.
 
80
For more information, see the functions of the Human Rights Commission in the Constitution of South Africa, 1996, art. 184(a)–(b). In 2010/2011 a total of 5626 complaints were handled by the Commission with growing emphasis on violation of economic and social rights with equality and human dignity featuring as the two highest attention matters. See South Africa Human Rights Commission, South Africa Human Rights Commission Annual Report (2011).
 
81
Cristophe Golay, The Right to Food and Access to Justice: Examples at the National, Regional and International Levels (2009).
 
82
Id.
 
83
See e.g. Bundesgericht [BGer] [Federal Court] V, Einwohnergemeinde X. und Regierungsrat des Kantons Bern (BGE/ATF 121 I 367) (Switz., 1998); Rarasea v. State, Criminal Appeal Case No. HAA0027 (May 12, 2000) (Fiji); Action No 4/830/07 of 12 March 2007 (Braz.); Corte Constitucional, Acción de tutela instaurada por Abel Antonio Jaramillo y otros contra la Red de Solidaridad Social y otros, Sentencia T-025/2004 (Colom.); Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación, Defensor del Pueblo de la Nación c. Estado Nacional y otra, 2007, para. 1 (Arg.); Kenneth George and others v. Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, File No. EC 1/ 2005 (S. Afri.); People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India and others, Writ petition (civil) No. 196/2001 (India); and Prakash Mani Sharma and others on behalf of Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro Public) v. Prime Minister and Office of Council of Ministers and others, Writ petition No. 0065-Wo-149 of 2065 BS (2008) (Nepal).
 
84
Uganda Children Act, 1997, art. 11.
 
85
Draft Bill for a Food and Nutrition Act, supra note 22, at art. 40(2)-(3).
 
86
Rukundo, supra note 40, at 151.
 
87
For more information see the case studies in U.N. Food & Ag. Org. [FAO], Right to Food: Making It Happen—Process and Lessons Learned Through Implementation (2011) [hereinafter Making It Happen].
 
88
See e.g. People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India and others, Writ petition (civil) No. 196/2001 (India); Prakash Mani Sharma and others on behalf of Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro Public) v. Prime Minister and Office of Council of Ministers and others, Writ petition No. 0065-Wo-149 of 2065 BS (2008) (Nepal).
 
89
See, e.g., High Court, Kenneth George and Others v. Minister of Environmental Affairs & Tourism (2007) (S. Afri.).
 
90
Aruna Sharma & Margret Vidar, IndiaLegal Campaigns for the Right to Food 93–117, in Making It Happen supra note 87; Mauricio Rosales & Luis Enrique Monterosso, GuatemalaWriting a Page of History, 75–92, inMaking It Happen supra note 87; Elisabetta Racine & Frank Mischler, BrazilA Pioneer on the Right to Food 55–73, inMaking It Happen supra note 87.
 
91
General Comment No. 12, supra note 5, at para. 29.
 
92
U.N. Food & Ag. Org. [FAO], Right to Food Methodological Toolbox, available at http://​www.​fao.​org/​righttofood/​publi_​02_​en.​htm.
 
93
U.N. Food & Agri. Org. [FAO], Guide on How to Conduct a Right to Food Assessment at District Level (2011).
 
94
See, for instance, the example of the right to food in Brazil and India detailed in Making It Happen, supra note 87.
 
95
The Regional Workshop on Legislating for the Right to Food was organized by FAO and MAAIF in Uganda in 2007.
 
Metadaten
Titel
Implementing the Right to Food in Uganda: Advances, Challenges and the Way Forward
verfasst von
Isabella Rae
Copyright-Jahr
2014
Verlag
Springer Netherlands
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7778-1_4