Quarterly Bulletin

      The right to food is one of the most basic right necessary not only for human survival but also essential to the realisation of respect for human dignity. But how is this right realised in Zambia? Miniva Chibuye, staff of the JCTR, in this article suggests some of the key issues that Zambia should adopt in order to fully provide for this right to all of its citizens, including constitutionally guaranteeing this right.

FOOD AND HUMAN DIGNITY

            “The necessity of ensuring fundamental human rights cannot be separated from the Church’s mission of evangelisation which endeavours to secure structures safeguarding human freedoms.” Among those freedoms to be safeguarded is the right to food. This powerful assertion is the reason why faith based organisations like the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) are concerned about the right to food.

            The right to food is the most basic of all human rights, as food is the most fundamental need for human survival. Looking beyond even mere survival, food is also essential to the realisation of a full human life, a life of dignity.  Without a basic nutritious diet, we as human persons,  created in the

image of God, are unable to achieve our full human potential: to live a life free from the uncertainty and anxiety of not knowing where to find the next meal; to have the capacity to concentrate and excel in educational pursuits; to have the freedom to refine our talents and contribute them to the building of a better society; to live a healthy, energetic and productive life.

            Without adequate food, there is no freedom, there is no dignity, and therefore, there can be no meaningful development. The right to food has been recognised in several instruments under international law, most significant being the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which affirms that, “the right to adequate food is indivisibly linked to the inherent dignity of the human person and is indispensable for the fulfilment of other human rights enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights”.

            This is further underscored by the first Millennium Development Goal, which is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, at least reducing by half the number of the extremely poor and hungry in all nations of the world by 2015. 

REALISATION OF RIGHT TO FOOD IN ZAMBIA

            At the JCTR, through our research, education and advocacy efforts, we strive to promote a more just society, a society with less poverty and most essentially, a society where all Zambian persons are at least able to eat a basic nutritious diet each and every month.

            However, poverty still remains a persistent and serious challenge in Zambia today, despite the consistent growth of the economy in recent years.  The Central Statistical Office estimates that 67% of Zambian households are unable to access a basket of basic needs, and 46% of Zambian households are unable to even access a basic food basket.  During the fourth quarter of the year, commonly referred to as “the hungry season,” extreme poverty grows to over 50% of Zambian households.  In other words, during this period, over half of our Zambian brothers and sisters do not have 3 meals a day. 

            In order to better illuminate the challenges faced in accessing food, the JCTR Social Conditions Research Project collects qualitative information from both the urban and rural areas on the living conditions of the people. The following are two stories from each respective area:

            In early October 2007, a Lusaka woman interviewed in the Industrial Area explained how she has been forced to provide for her family after her husband lost his job a few months ago. Every day she goes from factory to factory looking for piece-work. For example, she is often hired to sort maize at one of the millers, where she is paid K5,000 to sort ten 50 kg bags of maize.

            According to the September JCTR Basic Needs Basket, the cost of food alone was to the tune of K511,050 for a family of six living in Lusaka.  In light of high unemployment, high cost of living and low wages, the urban poor face a daunting challenge to earn enough income to afford basic needs, sometimes forced to compromise on moral values in order to make ends meet.  Monthly interviews conducted by the JCTR in high-density areas reveal that one of the major coping strategies is the reduction of the number of meals consumed, with many households in the compounds eating only 2 meals per day. 

            In the later part of October 2007, the Social Conditions Team visited Malama area in Mambwe district where it has been piloting the JCTR Rural Basket. In this area, community members lamented on the looming hunger period habitually experienced from October to early March as food stocks run out.  According to JCTR research on quantities of food consumed, the energy intake of most families falls significantly below the minimum number of calories needed per person per day for an active and healthy life. 

            Living in a Game Management Area, where the human-animal conflict is a dangerous reality, it is nearly impossible for the people of Malama to grow enough food to feed themselves for the year.  Also, the seasonality of the tourist industry and the impassable roads during the rainy season have led to seemingly inevitable hunger periods each and every year.

PROPOSALS FOR CONCRETE ACTION

            To ensure the realisation of the right to food, the JCTR offers the following key recommendations: First, it is essential that Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are enshrined within the Bill of Rights of the New Constitution, to give each and every Zambian the right to food.  This would ensure that the right to food is “legally enforceable,” and the government would be held accountable for the “progressive realisation” of people’s access to food.  This is not to say that the government must immediately provide food to every food insecure household in Zambia, but that the government must be seen taking steps to ensure that low-capacity households are able to find sustainable livelihoods and destitute households are protected from suffering malnutrition and other serious deprivation.

            Second, it is essential that every Zambian contribute towards the production of more and increasingly diverse foods.  Food security can only be realised through increased harvests especially in the starved rural areas. For example, this calls for concerted efforts among the government,     non-governmental

organisations and international institutions to provide infrastructure development, including roads and proper irrigation facilities. Farming inputs should be made available to farmers on time and also early warning reporting should be strengthened.  All these have very direct bearing on the livelihood outcomes of various groups subsequently contributing towards social justice.

            Third, it is essential that the government achieves the vision set out in the Fifth National Development Plan to provide social protection to all vulnerable persons in Zambia, through the scaling up of existing social protection initiatives such as the Food Security Pack to vulnerable farmers and the Public Welfare Assistance Scheme to the destitute.  Working with NGOs, Churches, Donors, the private sector and others, it is essential that government ensure a wider coverage and more coordinated approach to providing the vulnerable with protection from serious deprivation.

More importantly, we should see the right to food among our children in Zambia so that they not only grow healthy but also concentrate more at school and consequently realise their potentials. The right to food can only become a reality when the people are able to claim empowerment entitlements such as inputs, cash transfers, micro-finance, etc.

            In conclusion, it is the JCTR’s desire to see that all Zambians work together to ensure that the household food security is achieved sustainably in Zambia, and that the human dignity of all Zambians is uplifted.

Miniva Chibuye
JCTR
Lusaka

Editorial Note: This article is an edited version of a statement that JCTR made at the Vigil on the Right to Food organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on 22 October 2007.

“The right to live a dignified life can never be attained unless all basic necessities of life -- work, food, housing, health care, education and culture -- are adequately and equitably available to everyone”.

(The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Fact Sheet, No. 16)