A/HRC/36/58
the certification systems do not stand in a way to access to market. Applying the same
standards to different situations can lead to discrimination.
Language from a CFS recommendation on connecting small-holders to markets could be
used in this regard: “promote rigorous protection of food safety through effective risk
assessment leading to control systems that are appropriate for different scales, contexts and
modes of production and marketing, while providing information and capacity building to
meet these requirements”.
Article 12
Assimilation and integration
These terms are relatively new but these are also new phenomena. When large
infrastructure projects are implemented, peasants are often forced to leave their livelihoods
and are pressurized to start other activities. Fishers have been obliged to become
infrastructure workers. The objective of the provision is to ensure that peasants are not
instrumentalised for the purpose of profit.
Specific support to peasants
Providing specific support to peasants is necessary to remedy the situation of injustice.
Prioritizing groups in a marginalized or disadvantaged group is expressed in CESCR’s
general comment on non-discrimination and Guideline 13 of the 2012 FAO Voluntary
Guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure which is specifically focused on
vulnerable groups.
Article 13
Labour intensive production
The current trend is towards mechanization. The provision is necessary in the context of
large number of people without decent work. ILO employment policy recommendation 122
calls on States to “promote more labour-intensive techniques, in circumstances where these
will make for more efficient utilisation of available resources.” It also refers to “more
labour-intensive methods of cultivation, expansion of animal husbandry and the
diversification of agricultural production”.
Article 15
Food sovereignty
The concept of food sovereignty has emerged from the peasants movement and is different
from food security. Food sovereignty embraces a degree of independence: one can decide
what to produce. It does not challenge State sovereignty or control. The definition of the
right to food sovereignty refers to socially just mechanisms, ecologically sensitive means of
production, and the right to healthy food. The principle of cultural appropriateness is
important as it relates to the right to decide what they can eat and how they produce their
own food. The principle of ecologically sensitive agriculture is integral to realizing the
targets of the Paris Agreement.
Right to culturally acceptable food
Cultural acceptability of food has been recognized in the definition of the right to food
since the adoption of the general comment on the right to food by CESCR. The FAO
Voluntary Guidelines on the right to food, adopted by States, also refers to the right to
culturally acceptable food.
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