2011-03-09 13:45:17

The Right to Food is a Basic Right, says Archbishop Tomasi


(March 09, 2011) The right to food is a basic right because it is intrinsically linked to the right to life. Almost a billion people, however, do not enjoy this right, according to the Holy See. The challenge for the world’s community is “to tackle one of the gravest challenges of our time: freeing millions of human beings from hunger, whose lives are in danger due to a lack of daily bread,” said Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent Representative of the Holy See to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva at the 16th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday. He pointed out that 2.5 billion people in the world are dependent on agriculture for their daily sustenance and most of these people suffer from malnutrition and hunger. The Archbishop called on the Council to recognize and strengthen the central role of agriculture in economic activity; Investments to improve productivity are required in the areas of seeds, training, sharing of tools for cultivation and of the means for marketing; the customary right of land ownership may be reconsidered. He indicated that the current food crises have shown that some regions are facing serious shortfalls, and in areas that traditionally produce food the stocks are now exhausted or limited. He added that adequate measures should be taken to protect farmers against price volatility, such as price control and custom duty exemptions which has a strong impact on food security. The Prelate hoped that with given the vast agricultural and pastoral areas to be exploited still a concerted and determined action sustained by the ethical conviction that the human family is one and must move forward in solidarity, urban and rural populations together, the right to food can be implemented for every person.







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