Relationship Between Realization Of Right To Adequate Food And Food Security: A Study Among Pastoral And Small Farm Holder Households

ABSTRACT

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Convention on Economic and Social Cultural Rights underpin freedom from hunger and dignified lives for all. The study aimed at developing an innovative methodology for assessment of realization of the right to adequate food at household level and its validation; investigation of realization of the right to adequate food and its influence on food security, perception of rights to adequate food among pastoral and small farm holder households and duty bearer challenges in their realization of their obligation towards attainment of realization of right to adequate food. The study developed the right to adequate food tool based on the rights obligation parameters „to respect‟, „to protect‟ and „to fulfil‟. Validation of methodology was achieved through a comparative cross-sectional survey among 249 pastoral and farming households. Data was collected using a general household questionnaire, rights to adequate food questionnaire, perception of right to adequate food questionnaire, 24 hour food recall, food frequency questionnaire, household food insecurity access scale and focus group discussions. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS version 16 software. Qualitative data was analyzed based on thematic content analysis. A 34 item rating tool was developed, able to assess realization level of right to adequate food at household level and also articulate aspects of knowledge, entitlement, capacity, capability, empowerment and decision making. Household Right to Adequate Food Index (HRTAFI) was computed as a measure of level of realization of the right at household level. The farming community had better level of realization of both the right to adequate food and household food security compared to the pastoral community (p