Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

The right to life encompasses the right to food as no one can live without food. As such, every state is obliged to make sure that everyone under its jurisdiction is free from hunger. Yet, it is quite a paradox that no other human right is as much violated as the right to food. Emblematic to this issue is Ethiopia. The country has been through a series of perilous food situations for many years. Given its efforts in the area of agricultural development and the unwavering support from the generous international communities, Ethiopia’s food problem has still persisted stubbornly. The existing arguments as to why the problem remained unalleviated revolve mainly around the country’s deep-rooted poverty, environmental challenges, wrong development policies, unimproved agricultural inputs and practices, and many other socio-economic factors. However, the issue of human rights has rarely been given a considerable room in the existing arguments. This study, therefore, attempted to puzzle out Ethiopia’s persistent food insecurity through the lens of human rights. A blend of empirical and non-empirical research approach has been employed. The finding shows that the state’s failure to take seriously the human right to food significantly attributed to the problem. Analysis of the historical and contemporary food problems depicted that the state is boldly part of it by causing, not avoiding, exacerbating and making it recur. The study suggests that the state should rethink its actions, inactions, and mis-actions in a way that recognizes, respects, protects, fulfills, and promotes its citizens’ right to food.