RIGHT TO FOOD IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA

DEMAND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGISLATIVE GUARANTEES ON RIGHT TO FOOD IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA – PROPOSALS FOR AMENDMENT TO THE 1992 CONSTITUTION OF GHANA

Position Paper

Food Security Advocacy Network (FoodSPAN), respectively an international human rights advocacy NGO siding with the poor to end poverty and a network of farmer, faith and technical based NGOs working in partnership to ensure food security in Ghana, while
Expressing our profound support for the review of the 1992 Constitution would like to make some proposals for the amendment of the 1992 Constitution to incorporate critical issues bordering on the welfare of all Ghanaians with regard to THE RIGHT TO FOOD.
Having noted that though the1992 Constitution provides constitutional guarantees on the Ghanaian citizens’ right to a basic standard of life, the RIGHT TO FOOD, a critical component in ensuring a basic standard of life to all citizens is not explicitly mentioned, thus the submission of this proposal of ActionAid Ghana and FoodSPAN for an explicit mention of the RIGHT TO FOOD in the Constitution of Ghana.
Having noted that Ghana has ratified the UN Declaration on Human Rights of which article 5(1) states: “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing…”, thus placing an obligation on the State to promote the fundamental human rights of its citizens and bring all municipal laws into conformity with accepted documents,
In commitment to the World Food Summit Plan of Action, 1996 and Millennium Development Goal 1 on the achievement of food security and eradication of hunger to half by 2015
Reaffirming the universal human rights provisions in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana place an obligation on the State to adopt a human rights approach to development.
ActionAid Ghana and FOODSPAN, informed by our collective experiences in the food and agricultural sector through twenty (20) years of advocacy, promotion of human rights and development activities towards a hungerfree nation, make the following recommendations to the Constitutional Review Commission:
1. That the ‘RIGHT TO FOOD’ of all citizens be expressly captured in the Constitution of Ghana as a fundamental human right.
2. Constitutional provisions mandating the respect, promotion and protection of the RIGHT TO FOOD of all Ghanaians be included in the Constitution of Ghana.
3. The Constitution should mandate duty bearers in the ministries of food and agriculture; land; environment; trade and industries; roads and highways; district and municipal assemblies and other related departments and agencies to create an enabling environment for the enjoyment, promotion and protection of THE RIGHT TO FOOD of all Ghanaians
4. Considering the invaluable contribution of women (especially rural women) to food and agriculture in Ghana, the Constitution should impose an obligation on Parliament to enact legislation:
(a) on land tenure security for women and other vulnerable groups in the food and agricultural sector
(b) to reduce psycho-social, cultural and economic constraints faced by women and vulnerable groups and enhance productivity of rural women and other vulnerable groups
5. The Constitution should impose an obligation on Parliament to enact legislation to ensure strategic and adequate budgetary allocation to the smallholder farmer sector since they are very significant to the food sub-sector.
6. The Constitution should mandate state agencies to put in place efficient monitoring and inspectorate services to ensure that the poor and vulnerable get access to resources allocated to them.
Wherefore, we the undersigned have set our hands hereunder:
1. …………………………………………………..
Name: Queronica Quarley Quartey
Organisation: ActionAid Ghana
Title: Right to Food and Climate Change Policy Advisor
and FoodSPAN Coordinator


2. ………………………………………………….
Name: Kenneth Amoateng
Organisation: Abibiman Foundation
Title: Ag. Chief Executive Officer
and FoodSPAN Steering Committee



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"when the voice of the people become so loud the government has no alternative but to listen" Martin Luther King Jnr.

John F. Kennedy once observed that “our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man.”

Kenneth Nana Amoateng
AYICC West African Coordinator
Abibimman Foundation
Ghana National Youth Coalition on Climate Change (GNYCCC)
GCAP/MDGs-Ghana
FoodSPAN
IDAY-GHANA
P.O.BOX BT 1 Tema
Flat 1/A 74 Site 3
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E-Mail: amoatengken@yahoo.com
http://www.abibimman.org
http://www.1010global.org/gh
Tel# 233-0303-213918
Mob:233244023651
skype:kenneth.nana.amoateng
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