AUTHOR=Sampson Devon , Cely-Santos Marcela , Gemmill-Herren Barbara , Babin Nicholas , Bernhart Annelie , Bezner Kerr Rachel , Blesh Jennifer , Bowness Evan , Feldman Mackenzie , Gonçalves André Luis , James Dana , Kerssen Tanya , Klassen Susanna , Wezel Alexander , Wittman Hannah 

TITLE=Food Sovereignty and Rights-Based Approaches Strengthen Food Security and Nutrition Across the Globe: A Systematic Review

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 5 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.686492

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2021.686492

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=This systematic review assembles evidence for rights-based approaches –the right to food and food sovereignty– for achieving food security and adequate nutrition (FSN). Commissioned by the United Nations Committee on World Food Security High Level Panel of Experts working group on "Agroecological approaches and other innovations for sustainable agriculture and food systems that enhance food security and nutrition," we evaluated peer-reviewed and grey literature produced between 1992 and 2018 that documents empirical relationships between the right to food or food sovereignty, and FSN. A total of 4596 studies related to food sovereignty were reviewed, and 162 studies were included with evidence of impact on FSN. In the case of right to food approaches, 733 studies were reviewed, and a total of 54 were included. We classified studies by its literature type, study region, and impact (positive, negative, neutral and reverse-positive) on FSN. To operationalize high-level concepts such as food sovereignty and the right to food and connect them to the tangible interventions and practices observed in each reviewed study, we also classified studies according to eleven action types theorized by relevant literature to have an impact on FSN; these included “Addressing inequities in land access and confronting the process of land concentration” or “Promoting gender equity”, among others. We found strong evidence from across the globe indicating that food sovereignty and the right to food positively influence FSN outcomes. A small number of documented cases suggest that narrow rights-based policies or interventions are insufficient to overcome larger structural barriers to realizing FSN, such as inequitable land policy or discrimination based on race, gender or class. Future work, both in research and in policy, should focus on how and under what circumstances rights-based approaches positively impact FSN—or fail to do so.