International Journal of Law and Policy Review (IJLPR)

THE ONE WHO NEEDS AND THE ONE WHO EATS: OBSTACLES TO THE RIGHT TO FOOD- A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE Mohnaa Shrivastava1& Abhigyan Siddhant2 ABSTRACT The paper revolves around the theme of impediments to the right to food, a right which safeguards every human from the horrendous aftermaths of hunger 3and starvation. The significance of this right is exfoliated through a brief account on the provisions prescribed under various instruments of international law. The Constitutional recognition of this right is discussed and several constitutions around the world are analyzed in the light of this right. The paper points-out multifarious obstacles to the achievement of this right. The impact of political turbulence on the right to food within a country is elaborated through the case-studies on South Sudan and Somalia. The paper unfolds the impacts of corruption and ineffective administration on hunger through the case-study on India. Corruption is a corroded system where the authorities achieve monopoly over exercising discretion and completely banishes supremacy of the rule of law. The paper further analyzes case-study of Holodomor, a state-perpetrated famine, and explains how political ambitions can jeopardize the fundamentals of human rights. The memoirs of such brutal ignorance of duty, continues to be blots on the conscience of every human and shakes the spirit of international agencies. Further, the agricultural impediments are discussed in wider details and arguments are advanced towards eliminating these impediments. The right to food needs to be honored and achieved and effectuated in a manner that a person truly achieves a stage where he is free from hunger and starvation.

I. RIGHT TO FOOD ON THE INTERNATIONAL FORUM The right to food is a human right which shields all humans, from any part of the world, against the aftermaths of undernourishment, hunger and starvation. Several international instruments of law have explicitly treated

1

Amity Law School, New Delhi, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, BA-LLB (Hons), 5th year, (0)9650689318, [email protected] 2 Amity Law School, New Delhi, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, BA-LLB (Hons), 5th year, (0)9999999045, [email protected]

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this right to be of an unequivocally universal nature. 3 United Kingdom's Magna Carta of 1215 preserves the idea that no one should be amerced to the extent that they are bereft of their basic needs of living.4 The admittance of the right to food into the realm of international law was first inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s speech, the Four Freedoms, where he articulated the right of a person to be unrestrained from wants.5 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, clearly states that every human across the world possesses the right to decent standards of living which is inclusive of the right to food.6 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women imposes on the states a duty to ensure proper health care facilities and the access to them. In a non-obstante clause, the aforesaid Convention binds all the States to ensure to women appropriate services in relation with pregnancy, confinement and the postnatal period, granting free services and also sufficient nutrition during pregnancy and lactation. 7 The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006, states that all Party-states shall prevent any biased or dishonorable refusal of health services or food and fluids on the basis of disability.8 The Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, bestows every child with the right to a standard living which proves to be sufficient for his development not only on the physical and mental level but also on the moral and spiritual front.9 The right to safe and nutritious food has been reinstalled by Rome Declaration on World Food Security, 1996, and the same has recognized it as a fundamental right; to be at liberty from hunger. 10 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966, makes it binding on the states to acknowledge this right and forwards steps towards achieving this right. 11 The identification of the right to food by these international conventions goes on to display the attention it compels and the duty it imposes on states. 3

LORENZO COTULA, MARGARET VIDAR, The Right to Adequate Food in Emergencies, Volume 77 of FAO Legislative Study Series, Food & Agriculture Org., 2003, p. 5. 4 A. E. Dick Howard, Magna Carta: Text and Commentary, University of Virginia Press, 1964. 5 FRANK ROBERT DONOVAN, Mr. Roosevelt's four freedoms: the story behind the United Nations Charter, Dodd, Mead, 1966. 6 UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, ART 25(1), 1948. 7 THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (CEDAW), ART 12(2), 1981. 8 THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, ART 25(F), 2006. 9 THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, ART 24 AND ART 27, 1989. 10 ROME DECLARATION ON WORLD FOOD SECURITY, 1996; “We, the Heads of State and Government ... reaffirm the right of everyone to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger.” 11 THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, ARTICLE 11(1), 1966

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A total of twenty-three countries explicitly recognize this right in their constitutions and thirty-three countries mention it implicitly or as a directive principle.12 The Constitution of Kenya states that every person has the right to be unrestrained from starvation, and to have adequate food of acceptable quality.13 The Constitution of Bolivia clearly mentions the State's obligation to guarantee food security for all through a healthy, adequate and sufficient food.14 The Constitution of South Africa explicitly honors the right to food, water and basic nutrition for everyone, 15 which is inclusive of both children16 and detainees.17 In one of the leading cases, it was held that if justified provisions for persons in desperate need are not legislated, the government will be held as violating the constitution.18 The Constitution of Congo19 states that: “every citizen shall have the right to a level of life sufficient to assure his health, his wellbeing and that of his family, notably food, clothing, shelter, medical care as well as necessary social services.” The Constitution of Nepal20 on right to food reads as: “Every citizen shall have the right to food sovereignty as provided for in the law.” Fourteen countries in Latin America and eighteen other countries 21 acknowledge the supremacy of international law over national legislations.22 Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Malawi, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Iran, India, Uganda and Panama, acknowledge right to food as a directive principle of state policy. Egypt, Mongolia, Iraq, Republic of Korea and Rwanda recognize direct applicability. All human rights are cosmic and conventional in nature. They have global recognition and reach. They blanket the entire world and are both inseparable and interconnected in nature.23 The right to food is interlinked with the right to life, the right to 12

LIDIJA KNUTH AND MARGRET VIDAR, Constitutional and Legal Protection of the Right to Food around the World, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 2011 13 THE CONSTITUTION OF KENYA, ARTICLE 45(C). 14 THE CONSTITUTION OF BOLIVIA, ARTICLE 16. 15 THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH AFRICA, ARTICLE 27. 16 THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH AFRICA ART 28(C). 17 THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH AFRICA ART 35(2)(e). 18 Government of the Republic of South Africa v. Irene Grootboom, 2001 (1) SA 46 (CC). 19 THE CONSTITUTION OF CONGO, ARTICLE 34. 20 THE CONSTITUTION OF NEPAL, ARTICLE 18(3). 21 Supra note. 10. 22 Supra note. 10; Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Haiti, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Peru, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Guyana. 23 Part I, para 5, Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, 12 July 1993.

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property, the right to livelihood, the right to education, the right to water, the right to social security and the right to social welfare. And hence, the right to food should enjoy one of the prime pedestals of state concern towards the society it governs. The right needs to be honored, safeguarded and effectuated in a manner that a person truly achieves a stage where he is free from hunger and starvation.

II. IMPEDIMENTS AROUND THE WORLD 2.1. POLITICAL TURMOIL A political turmoil is often a result of clashes between two or more organized groups or factions within the same nation; an agitation which boils from within and corrodes the unity and harmony of a nation. One cannot discuss the impediments of the right to food without triggering the debate on political unrest and instability of governance in a country. Several examples go on to show the detrimental effect that internal conflicts ensue on the right to food. Food crisis is gripping Mali due to the ongoing conflict between the Malian troops and Islamist militants who have captured the country’s territory by force. It has displaced more than 230,000 people within Mali and over 140,000 people have fled to other countries.24 An analysis of two countries namely South Sudan and Somaliais furthered hereby to exfoliate the impediment of internal conflicts towards the realization of the right to food. Southern Sudan was recently tagged as the “hungriest place on Earth.”25 Until 2011,26 the story of undivided Sudan was about the conflict between the Government of Sudan, a government sponsored militia called the ‘Janjaweed’, Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement. There were about 1.9 million people who were displaced from Sudan when the conflict began 27 and the number of deaths ranged from 200,000 to 400,000 people. Women were threatened of imprisonment if they resorted to taking medical aid and so were the health providers. The Second Sudanese War was a conflict which lasted for 22 years, from 1983 to 2005. The International Criminal Court issued a warrant against Ahmad Haroun for attacking civilians and related offences and ironically he was appointed as the Sudan Minister of State and Humanitarian Affairs till 2009 after which he became the governor of South 24

WILLIAM LAMBERS, WAR AND HUNGER IN MALI: AS CONFLICT CONTINUES IN MALI, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WILL NEED TO SUPPORT AID AGENCIES TO PREVENT A WORSENING OF THE HUMANITARIAN SITUATION, THINK AFRICA PRESS, 2013. 25 SUPRA NOTE. 9. 26 SOUTH SUDAN PROFILE, BBC NEWS AFRICA, 5 JULY 2011. 27 TED DAGNE, SPECIALIST IN AFRICAN AFFAIRS, SUDAN: THE CRISIS IN DARFUR AND STATUS OF THE NORTH-SOUTH PEACE AGREEMENT, JUNE 1, 2011.

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Kordofan.28 Ultimately, on 4 March 2009, Omar Al Bashir, the Sudanese President under whose orders the Janjaweed fearlessly imputed hate-crimes, was issued a warrant by the ICC for offences against humanity and even then remains in power.29 About 2 million people have died due to conflict-related famine and ailments. Nearly 80% of the population in South Sudan has been denied the right to a dwelling due to these conflicts. More than 1.7 million people are still facing acute food shortage on Sudanese lands. 30 It was found that almost 46 percent of children in South Sudan are undernourished.31 People were forced to abandon their farms at the beginning of the planting season in South Kordofan and Blue Nile region. 32 Rebels from South Kordofan have recently accused Khartoum of using food as a weapon against the Nuba community, by denying them access to it and barring any international agency from providing aid.33 Millions are on the edge of being starved to death due to severe droughts and effects of past and continuing conflicts.34 Similar to the turmoil in Sudan, Somalia has been facing an ongoing period of political turbulence since 1991. The ongoing conflict is focused towards southern Somalia which is between the Federal Government of Somalia and various Islamist militants. The clash has displaced thousands of people and has also led to clan-wars between Islamists Al-Shabaab and Sufis Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a. More than 2.5 million Somalis are still facing acute food shortages due to lowering food levels and such political unrest. 35 The militants have prohibited all forms of help extended by any international aid agency in Somalia.36 In 2012 alone, an estimated 13,000 were compelled to abandon their homes due to food insecurity. 37 About 215,000 children 28

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, RHETORIC VERSUS REALITY: THE SITUATION IN DARFUR, 2 DECEMBER 2008, P. 3. 29 ICC ISSUES A WARRANT OF ARREST FOR OMAR AL BASHIR, PRESIDENT OF SUDAN, PRESS RELEASE, 4 MARCH, 2009. 30 SUDAN FACES FOOD CRISIS, CARE INTERNATIONAL UK, THURSDAY, 3 MARCH, 2005. 31 JASON STRAZIUSO, SOUTHERN SUDAN SUFFERING FOOD CRISIS, SFGATE, ASSOCIATED PRESS, APRIL 9, 2010. 32 FOOD CRISIS LOOMS IN SUDAN REGIONS, FAO CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION FUNDS, 5 OCTOBER, 2011. 33 SUDAN REBELS SAY KHARTOUM USING FOOD AS A WEAPON, REUTERS, JUBA | THU SEP 1, 2011. 34 MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE ON THE BRINK OF STARVATION IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, FAO NEWSROOM, 6 OCTOBER, 2006. 35 YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED: One year on from UN declaration of famine, Somalia faces worsening food crisis, OXFAM ISSUE BRIEFING, JULY 2012. 36 Paul Cullen, Somalia on brink of new food crisis, agency warns, The Irish Times, 6 July, 2012. 37 New' food crisis beckons in Somalia, Aid agency warns that Horn of Africa will slide into another hunger crisis if adequate measures are not taken, Al Jazeera and Agencies, 5 July, 2012.

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below the age of five are acutely malnourished out of which at least 45,000 are severely malnourished. Two-thirds of these children are in the Southern regions which are gravely affected by the civil war. There is no access to basic amenities like safe water and health services.38 An aid agency reported an inflow of 1,300 people per day who come to seek refuge in the Dabaab refugee camp in Kenya.39 A testimony of one of the villagers in Kenya said: Every day, almost 200 people pass here from Somalia and they are in a horrendous state. I spoke to a mother of seven children who told me she had to slaughter the donkey they were using as transport. She said this was the only way she could feed her children.40 Political instability thus makes the population of a country vulnerable and prone to being prey to the horrendous aftermaths of poverty and hunger. To these people, God can appear only in the form of bread and prove both His existence and care. The act of war is the last option of an empty stomach. It has become one of the matters which should galvanize not only apathy but speedy assistance and rehabilitation. It is one of the essentialities to understand that the world needs to usher in wars against hunger and not the ones which lead to hunger. 2.2. CORRUPTION AS AN IMPEDIMENT TO RIGHT TO FOOD Corruption is one of the greatest challenges that nations around the globe are facing.41 This has a direct effect on the implementation of the right to food in these countries. Due to this, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food has said in a report that it has become necessary to guarantee accountability and safeguards against corruption and diversion of funds to ensure food security. 42 Malpractices in the governance of war-ravaged Afghanistan have resulted in millions of dollars of foreign aid, meant to rehabilitate the victims of war, being siphoned off for personal gains of the powerful and corrupt elite.43 In poverty-stricken Somalia, corruption has led to massive and blatant misuse of foreign aid. In the country, about 80% of food-grains sold in market were originally intended to be free aid.44 Even in 38

GenoTeofilo, Somalia food crisis easing, though 1.05 million people are still in need, OXFAM, 1 Feb, 2013. 39 Somalis seeking refuge in Kenya: Your stories, BBC News: Africa, 28 June, 2011. 40 AbdullahiSigat, Libio, Kenya, Somalis seeking refuge in Kenya: Your stories, BBC News: Africa, 28 June, 2011. 41 “Worldwide corruption ‘on the rise’”. The Telegraph, Afghanistan, 2012-12-09 42 Oliver De Schutter, Contribution to the Informal Consultation with the Committee on World Food Security on Hunger, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, 11 February 2013 43 Susanne Koelbl, “Corruption in Afghanistan: US Cuts Aid Millions Siphoned Off to Dubai”, Spiegel Online International, 5 July 2012 44 Matt Brown, Corruption eats into Somalia’s food aid, The National, Africa. 2 May 2009.

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a place like Haiti, which is suffering from the aftermath of a disastrous earthquake, there have been widespread protests in the capital due to hoarding of food sent for relief.45 Case Study: India In the Indian scenario, the concept of right to food finds its origin in the Constitution of India itself under Article 47.46 The effect of the Article is visible in the text as it places an obligation on the State to ensure that nutrition, health and standard of living of the people of India take a primal position amongst its concerns.47 While this Article provides the origin of the concept of the right to food, the binding force comes from Article 21 of the Constitution of India which makes right to life as a fundamental right guaranteed to everyone in the country.48 Concerning this, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food said in a report that: "India provides one of the best examples in the world in terms of the justiciability of the right to food. The Constitution of India prohibits discrimination and recognizes all human rights. The right to life is recognized as a directly justiciable fundamental right (Art. 21), while the right to food is defined as a directive principle of State policy (Art. 47). As it has interpreted these provisions, the Supreme Court of India has found that the Government has a constitutional obligation to take steps to fight hunger and extreme poverty and to ensure a life with dignity for all individuals.”49

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Jorge Verga, Haiti protesters denounce aid corruption, hoarding, Thompson Reuters, Port-au-Prince, 8 February 2010 46 Food and Agriculture Organization (1998), "The right to food in national constitutions", The Right to Food in Theory and Practice (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), ISBN 925-104177-6, archived from the original on 17 July 2012. 47 Article 47 of the Constitution of India reads as follows: “Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health- The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.” 48 Article 21 of the Constitution of India reads as follows: “Protection of life and personal liberty- No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.” 49 Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2008), Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler (A/HRC/7/5), Human Rights Council, archived from the original on 6 June 2012.

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Despite the constitutional duty of the government, there seem to be many impediments in the practical realization of the right to food in the country. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN published a report in 2008 saying that India is home to 200 million food-insecure people. 50 Furthermore, the Global Hunger Index ranks India at the 66th position out of 88 nations that are there on the index.51 There are many prominent issues that act as major roadblocks in the achievement of a feasible and exercisable right to food. Corruption, scams and mismanagement on the part of the government have all resulted in this right of citizens, especially those belonging to the financially weaker section of the society, being transgressed. Classic examples of infringement of right to food are those of the Mid-day Meal Scams. In one such scam, 2760 sacks of rice were ceased from a truck.52 Originally meant to be sent directly to schools, where they were to be utilized to feed the primary-grade students, it was claimed that the rice was being taken from godowns of Food Corporation of India to factories in North Delhi for cleaning. It was subsequently revealed that a UP-based NGO called Bharatiya Manav Kalyan Parishad, in connivance with certain government officials, had been siphoning off the rice. In another case, in a village near Darjeeling, a group of teachers had been siphoning off food, and the situation was such that the primary school students had not received any mid-day meal for over 18 months.53 In another scam related to the midday meals, it was reported that teachers at government schools had been siphoning off food by faking attendance, i.e., they created fake students so that extra food could come to the schools.54 This meant that the right to food of the children, who were originally entitled to the food being siphoned off, was denied to them. Another major hurdle that India faces in realizing the goal of achieving proper distribution of food is that of hoarding in godowns.55 Hoarding often leads to lesser supply of food as compared to the demand. This directly results in there being a less amount of food available for public to access. Furthermore, this reduced amount of food in the market results in inflation 50

The State of Food Insecurity in the World, High food prices and food security – threats and opportunities, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Rome, 2008. 51 Baski, Boro (2012), "Legally entitled to a full stomach", D+C Development and Cooperation, 6 June 2012. 52 "Lid off massive scam in Mid-Day Meal Scheme: 2,760 sacks of rice seized", The Tribune, Delhi. 2006-01-20. Retrieved 2006-12-02. 53 Scam shadow on meal scheme, The Telegraph, Kolkata, 12 Feb, 2006 54 TEACHER BLOWS WHISTLE ON SCAM: SCHOOL AUTHORITIES POCKET MONEY IN THE NAME OF MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME, THE TIMES OF INDIA, BANGALORE, 12 FEB, 2006. 55 HOUSE ROCKED BY RS 124 CR GRAIN SCAM, THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI. 2012-07-25

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of the prices of essential commodities, 56 and denies many their right to food.57 Apart from the price rise tones of food are stored away unutilized, thus wasted.58 As far as the concept of right to food is concerned, the leading case for Indian context is that of People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India.59 Through this case, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties sought to have the right to food declared as a legal right of every citizen. 60 Many issues were addressed in this case and over 50 interim orders were passed on various issues such as the mid-day meals for primary-grade children and creation of the Office of the Commissioner to the Supreme Court to monitor all food and employment programmes.61 Other steps mandated by the court included converting all food and employment schemes into legal entitlements and universalization of schemes such as Integrated Child Development Services and Mid-day Meal Scheme. 62 India therefore possesses the means to ensure that right to food becomes a reality, it seems that correct implementation of these orders and realization of the aims of various schemes has remained a distant reality, as is evident by various scams and lack of good governance.63 2.3. AMBITIONS OF THE STATE ACTING AS AN IMPEDIMENT TO THE RIGHT TO FOOD: HOLODOMOR While talking about the denial of right to food, it is criminal not to look back at the history and examine one of the most tragic examples of it: the Holodomor. 64 The term Holodomor is derived from the two Ukrainian words ‘holod’, meaning hunger, and ‘mor’, meaning plague - thus it literally means “death by hunger” or “to kill by hunger”.65 In what is also called as the “Terror-Famine in Ukraine,”66 the loss of life has been compared to that 56

GOVT JITTERY OVER RISING FOOD PRICES AHEAD OF STATE POLLS, THE TIMES OF INDIA, DELHI, 18 MARCH 2013. 57 FUNDS TO CHECK INFLATION NOT USED, THE TIMES OF INDIA, DELHI, 4 APRIL 2013. 58 GODOWNS RAIDED FOR HOARDING TUR DAL IN GULBARGA, DECCAN HERALD, GULBARGA. 59 WRIT (CIVIL) 196 OF 2001 60 HARSH MANDER, SIXTH REPORT 61 SC ORDERS ON RIGHT TO FOOD 62 PUCL v. UNION OF INDIA & OTHERS, WRIT PETITION, 196 OF 2001, SIXTH REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS, OCTOBER 2005. 63 SUPRA NOTE. 53. 64 "The famine of 1932–33", Encyclopedia Britannica, Quote: "The Great Famine (Holodomor) of 1932–33—a man-made demographic catastrophe unprecedented in peacetime.” 65 Fawkes Helen, "Legacy of famine divides Ukraine", BBC News, 24 November 2006. 66 Davies, Norman, Europe East and West, London: Jonathan Cape, (2006).

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of the Holocaust, 67 as various historians and politicians around the globe have estimated the mortality rates to be between 1.8 million 68 and 10 million.69 The Holodomor is a classic example of how political ambitions of a state can subjugate the very fundamental of human rights. Of all the causes, the outright stubbornness and the utter lack of apathy of the Soviet regime under Joseph Stalin, was mainly responsible for the catastrophic famine.70 In a bid to gain absolute control over the resources and functioning of the state, the Soviet Union forcefully introduced the policy of collectivization.71 This included labelling rich peasants as ‘class enemies’, and deporting around 1.8 million of them.72 Furthermore, Stalin imposed unrealistic quotas that were required to be fulfilled, which led to the officials taking away grain at gunpoint from an already famished population.73 Adding to this was the fact that the government had declared the act of gleaning (collecting left-over grain after official harvesting and counting) as a criminal offence that was punishable by up-to 10 years in prison, and even death in exceptional circumstances.74 Moreover, the state ignored its duty to provide aid for the relief of faminestricken areas for a long time, 75 and imposed an information blockade to prevent the news of the famine from reaching the outside world. This resulted in the unaware international community not being able to send relief. Moreover, the people suffering from famine were not allowed to seek food in other areas or leave Ukraine, even though the authorities were well aware that the disaster had hit the area the worst.76 Situation, in fact, was so

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Zisels, Josef; Kharaz, Halyna"Will Holodomor receive the same status as the Holocaust?" (2007) 68 Wheatcroft, Stephen G. (2001a). "Current knowledge of the level and nature of mortality in the Ukrainian famine of 1931–3". In V. Vasil'ev; Y. Shapovala. Komandirivelikogogolodu: PoizdkiV.Molotova I L.Kaganovicha v Ukrainu ta naPivnichniiKavkaz, 1932–1933 rr. Kyiv: Geneza. 69 Peter Finn, Aftermath of a Soviet Famine, The Washington Post, April 27, 2008, "There are no exact figures on how many died. Modern historians place the number between 2.5 million and 3.5 million. Yushchenko and others have said at least 10 million were killed." 70 Robert Conquest, The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine, Oxford University Press, 1986. 71 Tucker, Robert, Stalin in Power, Norton & Company. p. 195, 1992. 72 Robert Conquest, The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine. Oxford University Press, 1986. 73 StanislavKulchytsky ,"Evidence proves genocide occurred". Kyiv Post. 2008-06-05. 74 Michael Ellman, Stalin and the Soviet Famine of 1932-33 RevisitedEurope-Asia Studies, Routledge. Vol. 59, No. 4, June 2007, 663-693. 75 StanislavKulchytsky, Why did Stalin exterminate the Ukrainians?, Den, November 29, 2005. 76 Naimark, Norman M.Stalin's Genocides (Human Rights and Crimes against Humanity), Princeton University Press, pp. 134-135, 2010.

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grave that people had resorted to widespread cannibalism, 77 and the authorities had to print posters that said, “To eat our own children is a barbarian act.”78 The prime aim behind Stalin’s misguided actions was to achieve what he considered beneficial for his rule: rapid collectivization, so that his regime had absolute control over the production, and industrialization. 79 His personal motives to attain total control of all aspects of Soviet life resulted in millions of deaths, and a Soviet official once stated that, “It took a famine to show them (peasants) who is master here. It has cost millions of lives, but the collective farm system is here to stay. We have won the war.”80 It was established in a research that “grain supplies were sufficient enough to sustain everyone if properly distributed,”81 and then concluded in another research that the mass-starvation that was caused was a “deliberate” act by the state. 82 The Holodomor, therefore, was a severe and tragic event, artificially created to achieve ambitions of the state and power that resulted in a large number of people being denied their right to food and dying from starvation, which is one of the slowest and most painful ways to die. 2.4. AGRICULTURAL IMPEDIMENTS Irrefutably, agriculture has been one of the most pivotal factors towards progress and civilization of mankind. No matter how advanced we get, the significance of agriculture towards the attainment of right to food cannot be ousted. An underdeveloped system of agriculture has the capacity to detrimentally expose people to the risk of starvation and undernourishment. The use of land for illegal cultivation of opium also restricts the space that could have been utilized to cultivate food. Most of the world's opium is illegally grown. Afghanistan is an exemplary country in the light of exposing this impediment. Only 12% of Afghanistan's land is arable and agriculture is one of the primary occupations. 83 It is one of the poorest countries in the world with 80% of its rural population living in poverty. Poor farmers have turned to illegal opium cultivation in order to make 77

Holodomor Archives and Sources: The State of the Art by HennadiiBoriak "The Harriman Review Vol. 16, No. 2" 2008, p. 30. 78 Várdy, Steven Béla; Várdy, Agnes Huszár, "Cannibalism in Stalin's Russia and Mao's China", East European Quarterly41, 2007. 79 'Stalinism' was a collective responsibility - Kremlin papers], The News in Brief, University of Melbourne, June 19, 1998, Vol 7 No 22 80 Tucker, Robert, Stalin in Power, Norton & Company, p. 195, 1992. 81 Steven Rosefielde, Red Holocaust, Routledge, p. 259, 2009. 82 Snyder Timothy, Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin,Basic Books, 2010. 83 Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Afghanistan, available from the Central Intelligence, U.S. Agency for International Development, Asia and the Near East: Afghanistan, January 8, 2007.

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money considering the high returns and easy methods of growing. 84 An Afghan farmer can make 17 times more profit growing opium than growing wheat. All these factors curtail the production of food within the homeland and results in acute shortage of food and necessities.85 The issue of wasteland reclamation also poses a threat on the right to food as it again renders vast extents of lands to be of no use. Almost the whole of Canada's territory is unproductive and useless frozen wasteland. Mining activities, marshlands, forests and nuclear factories, renders a vast stretch of land to be unproductive in all respects. The excessive use of pesticides and herbicides also affect the health of plants. The process of nitrogen fixation hampers the growth of leguminous plants by pesticides in soil.86 Pesticides lead to pollinator decline and kill bees which adversely affect apiculture industry. 87 Lack of facilities by the government pushes the farmers into helplessness and insecurity. Improper irrigational facilities are a great obstacle to the procurement of food and agricultural security. Flood irrigation often leads to wastage of water and it is costly to switch-over to the micro-irrigation methods. 88 Due to the lack of organized markets for agricultural products, improper pricing of crops takes place, which discourages the farmers to grow crops. Another obstacle towards this is the under-developed nature of consultancy services for the farmers. There are no centralized assistance forces who persistently work towards aiding farmers and creating awareness. All these factors hinder the chances of a better yield that the population needs. The agricultural impediments expose the technical issues and ineffective administration on the part of the government compelling immediate attention and further motivates towards legislating effective redemption policies and programmes.

III. CONCLUSION: THE WAY AHEAD To effectively achieve the aim of food security, it is necessary that multifarious recourses be employed to battle hunger in a country. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh enunciates the concept of negative protection against inadequate food, whereby a duty is imposed on the state to eliminate all possible threats to health by injurious food and drinks.89 To protect the 84

U.S. Department of State Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Background Note: Afghanistan, 2007. 85 Ashraf Ghani, “Where Democracy’s Greatest Enemy Is a Flower,” The New York Times, December 11, 2004, p. 19. 86 Scienceagogo.com, Rusty Rockets, Down On The Farm? Yields, Nutrients And Soil Quality, 8 June 2007. 87 Matt Wells, Vanishing bees threaten US crops, BBC News, Florida, USA. 88 Vivek Deshpande, Dripping with irrigation success, The Indian Express, 26 October 2012 89 Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque v. Bangladesh and Others, (No. 1) of 1 July, 1996.

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right to food, it is essential to strengthen the means of procuring food, and the right to income is a primary antecedent for ensuring this.90 The German Federal Constitutional Court is of the view that the legislature must respect this right, thus taxes cannot be imposed beyond the 'existential minimum'.91 As a consequence of partition of the Indian-subcontinent, around 8 million people came to India as refugees from Pakistan. 92 Further, after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, more than500,000 settled in the East Pakistan Displaced Persons' Colony in Delhi and Orissa.93 Hence, for the issue of ensuring food security in the aftermath of political blusters and turbulences, there is a need for a strong international support for the rehabilitation and redemption of the affected population. Effective rehabilitation centers should be both aided and funded by a rigid international force with a stricter approach. The rights of indigenous people with regard to the right to food must also be augmented, considering their special requirements. When we analyze the problem of corruption, it is of utmost importance that we understand its nature. It is a corroded system where the authorities achieve monopoly over exercising discretion, which leads to widespread arbitrariness and completely banishes the supremacy of the rule of law. Corruption leads to a situation where the concepts of answerability and accountability are null entities. Regarding the obstacles in the governance process, the strictness that is shown in the legislation of laws should be coupled with equal stringency towards ensuring implementation. Properly trained and staffed inspection units should be organized by the governments of various countries in order to reinstall the element of accountability within the system. The governments should pro-actively engage in activities to amplify transparency levels and reduce the presence of red-tapism so that ‘corruption’ ceases to be an omnipotent reality. When the question of state-perpetrated famines is considered, the only recourse that attracts attention is the strengthening of international laws. The United Nations should amplify the magnitude of sanctions that back-up the conventional provisions against any racially, ethnically or politically motivated crimes and unlawful denial of the right to food. Larger funds should be pooled and a sturdy mechanism to ensure the reach of food-aids should be developed. The situation also indicates the need of a powerful, disciplined and dynamic security force on the international arena. 90

Christian Courtis, The Right to Food as a Justiciable Right: Challenges and Strategies, Max Planck UNYB 11, p. 330, 2007. 91 German Federal Constitutional Court, BVerfGE 82, 60 (85). 92 ADMIN, Current Affairs: India & World, 26 November, 2011. 93 Travel Delhi, India: Illustrated Guide and Maps, Mobi Travel Series, 2007.

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The agricultural impediments should be tackled with the help of extensive research and clever use of technology. Judicious use of available waterresources is also a vital issue of concern for all countries. Constant efforts should be made in order to eliminate wasteful methods and enhance conservation activities. There should be strategies made in order to make latest technology available for all, such as the Micro-irrigation facility. Apart from these measures, standard of nutrition should be improved among children and the effects of ‘hidden’ hunger must be eliminated. Warehousing facilities should be organized in a manner that effective storage can be actualized and buffer stocks are well maintained. Systematic forms of consultative agencies should be implemented so as to enhance the access of the farmers to any required assistance. Credit facilities should be mobilized globally so that the farmers overcome the sense of persistent insecurity and uncertainty. Insurance facilities should be centrally-controlled and incorporated in all countries. Also, there is an urgent need felt all over the world to extend education to farmers about the various implements of agriculture and their usage: seeds, fertilizers and herbicides and the procedures of seeking relief. The markets need to be developed to ensure a satisfactory price for the grains and information technology should reach all farmers and not just a handful. Every government should actively engage in carrying-out elaborate research on nutritional needs, quality of the soil in the country, and ways to enrich production levels. There is a need for the governments to develop regionspecific policies that are evaluative and in conformation with the specific requirements. It is vital to strengthen the ability of the hungry to build sustainable livelihoods, and therefore critical that measures are adopted with due diligence and rapid pace. Even in these modern times, a large segment of the population is denied the most elementary of all human rights – the right to food. It is a blot on the collective conscience of humanity if such rudimentary requirements for being alive are not available to people, and an even larger question is raised on the morality of those with means if measures to insulate the poor from these fluctuations and steps towards achieving food security are not embraced.

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