scholarly journals COVID19 and Human Right To Food: Lived Experiences of the Urban Poor in Kenya with the Impacts of Government’s Response Measures, A Participatory Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Wambui Kimani-Murage ◽  
David Osogo ◽  
Carolyn Kemunto Nyamasege ◽  
Emmy Kageha Igonya ◽  
David Otieno Ngira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
The Government ◽  
Human Right To Food

Abstract Background Globally, governments put in place measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Information on the effects of these measures on the urban poor is limited. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of the urban poor in Kenya in the context of government’s COVID-19 response measures and its effects on the human right to food. Methods A participatory qualitative study was conducted in two informal settlements in Nairobi between January and March 2021. Analysis draws on eight focus group discussions, eight in-depth interviews, twelve key informant interviews, two photovoice sessions and three digital storytelling sessions. Phenomenology was applied to understand an individual’s lived experiences with the human right to food during COVID -19. Thematic analysis was performed using NVIVO software. Results The human right to food was affected in various ways. Many people lost their livelihoods affecting affordability of food due to response measures such as social distancing, curfew, and lockdown. The food supply chain was disrupted causing limited availability and access to affordable, safe, adequate, and nutritious food. Consequently, hunger and an increased consumption of low-quality food was reported. The government and other stakeholders instituted social protection measures. However, these were inadequate and marred with irregularities. Some households resorted to scavenging food from dumpsites, skipping meals, sex-work, urban-rural migration and depending on food donations to survive. On the positive side, some households resorted to progressive measures such as urban farming and food sharing in the community. Generally, there was a view that the response measures could have been more sensitive to the human rights of the urban poor. Conclusions The government’s COVID-19 restrictive measures exacerbated the already existing vulnerability of the urban poor to food insecurity and violated their human right to food. Future response measures should be executed in ways that respect the human right to food and protect marginalized people from resultant vulnerabilities.

Theories of the food insecurity ‘problem’ and the right to food ‘solution’

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Lambie-Mumford
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Acceptability ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
The Social ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sufficient Food

Chapter 3 sets out the key theories with which the book engages: food insecurity and the human right to food. Following on from a conceptualisation and definition of food insecurity, the right to food is introduced. Emphasis is placed on normative element of ‘adequacy and sustainability of food availability and access’ and on the state’s obligation to ‘respect, protect and fulfil the right to food’. Theories of ‘othering’ and ‘agency’ are employed to assess the social acceptability of emergency food systems as a means of acquiring food, and the power of providers to make sufficient food available through these systems and of potential recipients to access it. Theories of ‘care’ and ‘social protection’ are employed to explore the ways in which charitable providers are in practice taking responsibility for the duty to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food and how shifts in welfare policy are affecting need for this provision.

scholarly journals RIGHT TO FOOD FOR ALL IN INDIA: MYTH OR REALITY

2018 ◽  
pp. 178-189
Author(s):  
Grishma Soni ◽  
Prachi V. Motiyani
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide Emission ◽  
Right To Life ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
Complex Issue ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

As we all know that food is the basic Human necessity, without which no one can survive. Making food available for all the people in the world is now days becoming a complex issue. The availability food is decreasing as a result of increase in population that will result in food insecurity or malnutrition. Indian constitution interprets the right to food as part of right to life, which is fundamental human right. Change in climate, the impact of globalization, Global Warming, Carbon dioxide emission from fuel etc. also affects the right to food of many people. This paper examines the situation prevailing in India and looks into the obligations and initiatives by the government of India to ensure Right to Food and make suggestions for addressing the issue and examines the possible way to make the scheme workable to achieve food security.

The Politics of Chronic Hunger

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Michelle Jurkovich
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
The Right ◽  
Human Right To Food

This chapter focuses on one case of an economic and social right, the right to food. It mentions the development of an alternative model of advocacy, called the buckshot model, which explains the trajectories of campaigns in terms of the right to food. It also discusses international anti-hunger activism, which cites the fore advocacy surrounding the human right to food. The chapter emphasizes how the fulfillment of other human rights is either impossible or substantively meaningless without the realization of the right to food. It points out that more people die from hunger and related causes globally than in all wars, civil and international, combined.

Pandemic, lockdown and the stalled urbanization of welfare regimes in Southern Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 146801812110137
Author(s):  
Lena Gronbach ◽  
Jeremy Seekings
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
The Government ◽  
Social Grant ◽  
National Governments

While Covid-19 caused few fatalities across most of Africa – with the notable exception of South Africa – the indirect economic effects were substantial, especially in urban areas. International organizations encouraged governments to expand their provision, especially for the urban poor. South Africa extended temporarily its already considerable system of social protection and introduced new implementation systems. Elsewhere, governments that had hitherto appeared ambivalent about social protection resisted major reforms, even on a temporary basis. In Zambia, the government committed considerable resources to small farmers but ignored almost entirely cash transfers to the poor. Botswana provided food parcels but did not expand its social grant programmes. The shock of Covid-19 in Southern Africa did not prove to be a ‘critical juncture’: Powerful pro-reform coalitions did not form to shift governments onto new policy paths. National governments were generally reluctant either to introduce programmes that were targeted on the urban poor specifically or to allow countrywide emergency programmes to become permanent. The crisis thus did not lead to any clear ‘urbanisation’ of welfare regimes in the region, despite the disproportionate effect of the crisis on the urban poor.

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