According to the commitments established in different international covenants, people not only have the right to eat: they also have the right to do so in a fair, safe, sustainable and healthy way. For this reason, the Diputació de Barcelona supports projects promoted by councils that are interested in exercising their food sovereignty. In this sense, creating managed agricultural spaces is essential, since if there are no peasants, there is no agricultural sector; and without a local agricultural sector, there can be no food sovereignty.

Right to food

Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on December 10 and commemorates the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It is a historical document for many reasons, but above all because it established, for the first time, the list of fundamental rights of people, regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other, national or social origin, economic position, birth or any other condition. And although it is worth reading and underlining each of the thirty articles of the resolution, today we want to focus on number 25, as it allows us to recall the importance of protecting a basic and essential right that, unfortunately, is not guaranteed in any region of the world: the right not to go hungry.

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living that ensures, for himself and his family, health and well-being, especially with regard to food” Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

A few years later, in 1966, the United Nations General Assembly went further, adopting the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. In its article 11, it recognizes “the fundamental right of every person to be protected from hunger” and encourages signatory States to take steps to give effect to this right. Specifically, it expresses the commitment to “improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food”, “the improvement or reform of agrarian regimes so as to achieve the most efficient exploitation and use of natural resources”, as well as “to ensure an equitable distribution of world food in relation to needs”.

Unfortunately, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) states in its latest report that the world is far from being able to eradicate malnutrition and combat malnutrition: its estimates indicate that about 690 million people are currently hungry globally, a figure that by 2030 will exceed 840 million if recent trends continue.

Also in Catalonia

Hunger is a very widespread problem and affects not only developing countries: food poverty also exists in our immediate environment. According to data from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia, 26.7% of the population has difficulty reaching the end of the month and more than 428,000 people suffer severe material deprivation.

We must be aware that if we want to end hunger in our territory, we must work in a transversal and coordinated way with local and regional authorities: we know that local governments are key to articulating an agri-food system that leaves no one out. Obviously, we must ensure that no person sees their right to food violated. But we must also implement measures that allow us to address the other side of hunger, the less visible one, that which is related to food shortages, excesses or imbalances and not to its absence. Malnutrition, not malnutrition, is the great food challenge in Catalonia.

People not only have the right to food, as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized; they should also be able to do so in a fair, safe, sustainable and healthy way. For this reason, the Diputació de Barcelona is working on a guide that aspires to become a world reference document and frequent consultation by all those municipalities that want to bet on “a more localized, healthy, fair, low-carbon and ecological food system”. The corporation wants to reinforce the processes necessary for local governments that may be interested in making the transition to a model of greater food sovereignty, thus aligning themselves with the “Farm to Fork” strategy, which is at the heart of the European Green Deal.

A vision from more than twenty years ago

The institutional declaration is recent: the Diputació de Barcelona made public its commitment to sustainable food during the ordinary plenary session on 29 October. But this transition has long been brewing in the house: in all areas of the corporation, there are teams working on some of the aspects of an extremely complex political strategy, full of nuances and derivatives. In the Area of Innovation, Local Governments and Territorial Cohesion, in the Climate Action Area, in the Area of Economic Development, Tourism and Trade, in the Area of Social Cohesion, Citizenship and Welfare..., in all areas, there are people promoting food governance in the territory with a joint vision and mission. Also in the Area of Infrastructures and Natural Spaces, the Territorial Agrarian Directorate (DTA) has been supporting models of agricultural development for more than twenty years that take care of both the territory where food is grown and the people who produce it.

This support has been concretized, for example, in the promotion of the Montserrat Rural Park, a project that started in 2005 at the initiative of the municipalities of Collbató, Olesa de Montserrat, Esparreguera and El Bruc, and which today has the commitment of sixteen municipalities in the area. Also in the creation of the Agricultural Space of Baixa Tordera, a joint proposal of the municipalities of Palafolls, Malgrat de Mar, Santa Susanna, Tordera and Blanes to enhance one of the most fertile agricultural territories in Catalonia. And, obviously, we cannot fail to mention the BCN Smart Rural, the territorial specialization and competitiveness project co-financed by the Barcelona Provincial Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). With a budget of nearly three million euros, the project is organized in three main areas of action: a service bank to boost specialization and competitiveness in the rural world thanks to the use of new technologies; the promotion of agricultural and livestock activity of high ecological value; and the promotion of the green and circular economy through forest management and the use of biomass.

It is important to note that all the projects led by the Territorial Agrarian Directorate promote development models that flee from a linear production system, where the only objective pursued is economic growth, and instead bet on a circular production system that adds social, ecological and proximity criteria to the equation. They are projects that want to contribute to making the rural world viable through sustainable, diversified and resilient initiatives. As they are based on innovation, participation and knowledge, they are suitable projects for people looking for “Smart” or intelligent solutions. And they are, above all, projects that work in favor of food sovereignty: if we accept that people have the right to enjoy healthy, tasty and sustainable food, we must implement agrarian policies that allow us to guarantee the exercise of this fundamental right in the demarcation of Barcelona.

“All peoples can freely dispose of their wealth and their natural resources. Under no circumstances shall a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence” Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (United Nations, 1966)

— BCN Smart Rural Editorial ​​​​​​​—