Prof. Olawuyi Calls For Rights-Based Food Security Approach At UN Human Rights Council

0

Chairperson of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Professor Damilola Olawuyi (SAN), has urged governments, agribusinesses and other stakeholders in the food sector to adopt sustainable, rights-based food security policies and investments that tackle food fraud and promote food justice.

Olawuyi, who is also the Global Vice Chair of the International Law Association, made the call while presenting a report to world leaders at the 62nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The report, titled Agribusiness, Food Security and Human Rights, examines how governments, businesses, investors and other stakeholders can design and implement food security programmes that are sustainable, respect human rights and align with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

According to the report, the global push to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2) on Zero Hunger has prompted many countries and investors to increase funding for food production in a bid to improve food availability, affordability and accessibility. However, Olawuyi warned that such investments must not come at the expense of human rights.

He cautioned against practices such as land grabbing, food waste, environmental pollution and food fraud, describing the latter as including the economically motivated adulteration of food, misleading food labelling, fraudulent packaging, seed theft, abuse of food assistance programmes and the illicit trade in food products.

Olawuyi urged governments and businesses to seize the growing momentum in global food sector investments to build sustainable food value chains that discourage and penalise food fraud.

“International law has key roles to play in ensuring the safety and sustainability of the food we eat,” he said.

“People want to be sure that when they pick up their food supplies, the product is not adulterated, wrongly labelled or contains misleading claims about its environmental sustainability.

“This report therefore provides timely and practical legal insights that can help agribusinesses, investors, policymakers, scholars and institutions worldwide navigate these complex and evolving realities while supporting more resilient and sustainable food and agribusiness value chains that advance the SDGs and leave no one behind.”

He stressed that the design, financing and implementation of food security programmes and agricultural investments must not create or reinforce human rights abuses.

“Human rights must therefore be urgently placed at the heart of global efforts to advance food security and sustainable food systems in a manner that promotes food affordability, addresses food fraud and advances food justice in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

“We must also ensure inclusive policies that strengthen and support smallholder farmers to access finance, technology and training required to actively participate in food supply value chains,” he added.

Olawuyi further called on investors and businesses to integrate human rights considerations into their corporate policies and strategies as part of a comprehensive risk management framework. He also advocated stronger coordination among governments to mainstream human rights standards into food security, climate and sustainable development policies, while ensuring effective remedies for individuals affected by human rights and environmental violations linked to food production and supply chains.

He also challenged stakeholders to avoid greenwashing and misleading food labels, particularly those relating to product origin, climate and environmental claims, production methods, processing techniques and ingredients.

According to him, food marketing and labelling should be clear, credible and transparent.

Highlighting the importance of education and capacity development, Olawuyi said higher education institutions, civil society organisations, Indigenous Peoples and human rights defenders all have a vital role to play in helping businesses and investors identify, prevent and address human rights risks across food and agribusiness value chains.