A/HRC/43/53 adequate standard of living. Thirty-one States provide constitutional recognition of the right to food: Belarus, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Kenya, Malawi, Maldives, Mexico, Nepal, Nicaragua, the Niger, Panama, Paraguay, the Philippines, the Republic of Moldova, South Africa, Suriname, Ukraine and Zimbabwe. 75. Agroecological farming can help to improve livelihoods for small-scale farmers and those living in poverty, including women, because it involves limited reliance on expensive external inputs. Agroecology improves air, soil, surface water and groundwater quality, is less energy-intensive, reduces emissions of greenhouse gases and enhances carbon sinks (A/HRC/16/49, para. 31). The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has identified agroecology policies in Brazil, Denmark, Ecuador, India, the Philippines, Senegal and the United States as winners of Future Policy Awards in 2018 for scaling up agroecology, improving the livelihoods of small-scale food producers, ensuring sustainable food production systems and implementing climate-resilient agricultural practices.35 Agroecology projects in Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Egypt, India, Mozambique, Nepal, the Niger and the Philippines were recognized for good practices by the World Future Council in 2019. 36 76. Turkey passed a law on organic agriculture in 2004 and a by-law on organic agriculture principles and practices in 2010. The number of farmers and areas under organic cultivation has grown rapidly since 2010, with the area in organic production jumping more than 60 per cent between 2010 and 2014.37 77. The Great Green Wall is an extraordinary initiative to restore degraded land in the Sahel region of Africa. The States involved include Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, the Sudan and Tunisia. The Great Green Wall will help to combat climate change, drought, famine, conflict and migration. Senegal has already planted more than 12 million drought-resistant trees. In Ethiopia, 15 million hectares of degraded land have been restored and hundreds of millions of trees planted. In the Niger, 5 million hectares of land have been restored, producing an additional 500,000 tonnes of grain annually, enough to feed 2.5 million people. 38 78. Field schools for farmers can significantly reduce pesticide use, as inputs are replaced by knowledge. Large-scale studies conducted in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Viet Nam showed decreases of 34 to 92 per cent in pesticides used on rice crops.39 79. An important element of shifting to a healthy and sustainable food system is a decrease in the production and consumption of meat, particularly beef, because of the huge impact on the environment.40 Protein crops (for example, soybeans, lentils and chickpeas) can provide benefits, such as less disease and pest pressure, improved nitrogen management, lower nitrogen emissions and increased opportunities for farmers. In 2015, Ireland introduced a programme offering incentives to farmers to grow protein crops. In the first year of the programme, a 300 per cent increase in production was reported.41 4. Access to safe water and adequate sanitation 80. In 2017, 785 million people still lacked access to basic water services and 700 million people still practiced open defecation due to lack of sanitation services. The lack of access to 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 See www.fao.org/agroecology/slideshow/news-article/en/c/1187596/. See www.worldfuturecouncil.org/press-release-opa-2019/. State of the Environment Report for Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation, 2016. www.greatgreenwall.org. Henk Van den Berg and Janice Jiggins, “Investing in Farmers: the Impacts of Farmer Field Schools in Relation to Integrated Pest Management”, World Development, vol. 35, No. 4, April 2007, pp. 663– 686. Special Report on Climate Change and Land: Summary for Policymakers, IPCC, 2019 (available from www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/summary-for-policymakers). Solutions for the Farm of the Future: Go Green, New Economics Foundation. 2017. 13