Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on her mission to Zimbabwe, A/HRC/43/44/Add.2
The Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Hilal Elver, conducted an official visit to Zimbabwe from 18 to 28 November 2019, at the invitation of the Government. The mission’s objective was to assess all aspects of the right to food in Zimbabwe. The Special Rapporteur found that despite the constitutional protection of the right to food and a sophisticated set of human-rights based national laws and policies, man-made starvation is slowly making its way in the country, with more than 60% of the population now considered food-insecure due to extreme poverty, high inflation and poor agricultural productivity, among other causes. The Special Rapporteur called on the Government to live up to its zero hunger commitment without any discrimination. She also urged the Government, all political parties and the international community to come together to put an end to this spiraling crisis, by taking steps at the national level to respect Government’s human rights obligations, and internationally, by putting an end to all economic sanctions. You can access the full report here.
Concluding Remarks
While acknowledging the strong commitment to a zero hunger policy expressed by all her interlocutors in the Government, the Special Rapporteur is worried that the situation in Zimbabwe is slowly getting to a point of man-made starvation.
Political polarization, the economic and financial crisis, and erratic climatic conditions all contribute to the storm of food insecurity currently facing the country. Despite being at peace, Zimbabwe counts amongst the four highest food insecure places, alongside conflict ravaged countries. With its large reserves of gold, platinum, diamonds and other metals and minerals, as well as fertile agricultural lands the country still has an enormous economic potential, which could lift the entire region.
The Government should adopt the necessary measures to reduce the country’s dependence on food importation, mostly maize, especially given the volatility of foreign exchange rates. Relying on maize as the main staple food, hinders the fight against malnutrition. It is vitally important for the country to create the conditions for the production of its own food and the protection of traditional seeds, to ensure the country’s self-sufficiency, food sovereignty and preparedness for the climate shocks that already hit the country. The Government should initiate a master plan for a sustainable and nutrition-sensitive food production system which will take into account the country’ natural resources and climatic conditions with a view to diversify the diet of its people.
Good fiscal and economic governance could change the course of Zimbabweans’ economic and social conditions, particularly their right to food. It is the primary responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that the right to food of its citizens is respected, protected and fulfilled, as provided by its constitution.
The Government should fulfill the obligation of the right to food by providing food assistance throughout this emergency period and ensure that social safety nets are established for the most deprived segments of its population, without any form of discrimination and with respect to the principles of transparency, accountability and participation in decision-making. The right to food cannot be effectively implemented without a democratic order respecting all sets of rights, including civil and political rights.
The international community, the Government and opposition parties, must urgently scale up its humanitarian assistance and provide for most of the resources needed to eliminate hunger and malnutrition with a view to put an end to this spiraling crisis before it morphs into a full-blown social unrest. Early warning mechanisms aimed at monitoring the entire set of economic and social rights should be put in place to prevent more suffering.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government of Zimbabwe:
(a) Ratify the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
(b) Ratify all ILO conventions relevant to workers in the agricultural and food production sectors, including plantation workers, and ensure their effective implementation;
(c) Honour its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (General Assembly resolution 34/180) by taking immediate action to implement principles that protect the livelihood of rural women and eliminate their vulnerability, and support women farmers with incentives, access to credit and other productive sources;
(d) Implement the various voluntary guidelines of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to revise the national agricultural and food policies such as the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security, the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security and the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems;
(e) Establish security of land tenure to prevent forced evictions of farmers;
(f) Create policies that support urban and peri-urban agriculture;
(g) Ensure the proper functioning of the Human Rights Commission in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), and allocate budgetary and human resources for the effective implementation of the all human rights policies, including the right to food;
(h) Enact binding legislations introducing due diligence mechanisms to allow affected individuals and communities to hold accountable the private sector, including all supply chain enterprises that profit from the human rights abuses;
(i) Enact legislations to limit the excessive and dangerous use of toxic agrochemicals, providing for appropriate sanctions for those who break the law and adequate compensation for persons affected, together with implementation monitoring systems;
(j) Improve the human rights protection for informal agricultural workers, especially women and girls, peasants, certain minorities suffering discrimination, those living in remote areas, and migrant workers without citizenship rights;
(k) Support small-scale farmers and producers, particularly women and young people, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, and pastoralists, by ensuring fair access to land and other productive resources and by continuing the Presidential Agricultural Input Support Scheme;
(l) Revise and restructure the Command Agriculture scheme to include an effective monitoring system to avoid unnecessary burdens on the budget;
(m) Continue targeted food subsidies in times of emergency to lower food prices for vulnerable groups, and subsidize more diverse and nutritious foods, in order to address hunger and malnutrition throughout the country;
(n) Continue to cooperate with international humanitarian agencies and donor countries to provide an equitable and transparent distribution of food and humanitarian assistance;
(o) Share information about the current stock levels to swiftly respond to the needs of Zimbabweans in this period of emergency;
(p) Establish an early warning system to avoid the severe consequences of future natural disasters, cooperate with international institutions to receive financial and technical assistance;
(q) Extend the school meals program to cover all children, giving priority to rural areas, and adopt a system for purchasing agricultural production from family farming and local producers;
(r) Diversify current agricultural targets, which focus predominantly on maize, so as to support the production of more diverse and nutritious foods, including fruits and vegetables, in order to respond to malnutrition and to drought-resistant traditional staple foods;
(s) Develop properly financed comprehensive nutrition policies aimed at dealing with stunting and wasting, and all forms of malnutrition – including obesity and micronutrient deficiency – and provide the necessary support to further empower the Food and Nutrition Council;
(t) Elaborate national agroecology and sustainable agriculture strategies and implement good practices from international organizations, such as the WFP and the FAO and introduce training programmes on agroecology;
(u) Prioritise access to potable water to residents at all times, as enshrined in Section 77 of the Zimbabwean Constitution;
(v) Urgently address issues of open defecations, particularly in the informal settlements, with a view to adhere to housing and sanitation policies, and to prevent water borne diseases. The Government and its development partners should promote household-based WASH interventions to address hygiene at household level.