As we step into a new decade, imagine we have an eraser to wipe away the tired yet relentless drive to further liberalize trade at nearly every corner—and instead, take a fresh look at what policies could help the over one billion people around the world without enough food to eat. How could we re-write trade and investment policies to support efforts by countries struggling with hunger to better feed themselves? How can we strengthen the resilience of agriculture to better adapt to climate change? How can we better stabilize highly volatile markets that make it so difficult for small scale farmers to make a living?
A new book, edited by FIAN's Armin Paasch and IATP's Sophia Murphy, makes a convincing case that by putting human rights, particularly the right to adequate, healthy food, at the center of economic and development policy we can better address hunger in the short and long term. The Global Food Challenge, with contributions by some of civil society's leading thinkers on food security and trade policy, outlines a series of proposals to integrate established human rights law into multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations. It includes chapters on trade policy, foreign investment, women's role in food production, speculation on agricultural commodities and climate change, and food security.
The book includes contributions by IATP's Alexandra Spieldoch and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, among many others. You can read the Executive Summary and find the full book on our Web site.
