In the 20th century science and technology changed the agricultural sector in many industrialized countries enormously. The implications for both developed and developing countries in the agricultural sector, rural development, food security, food safety, the environment, trade etc., are the subject of the guide.
This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research on Agriculture. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library’s classification index code 9j. Agriculture, Agrarian Policy, etc. and subject heading (keyword) Agriculture are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
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Description: “The challenge of global hunger is now high on the agenda of governments and international policy-makers. This new work contributes to addressing that challenge, by looking at the obstacles which stand in the way of implementing a right to food in the era of globalisation. The book describes the current situation of global hunger; it considers how it relates both to the development of food systems and to the merger of the food and energy markets; and it explains how the right to food contributes to identifying solutions at the domestic and international levels. The right to food, it argues, can only be realised if governance improves at the domestic level, and if the international environment enables governments to adopt appropriate policies, for which they require a certain policy space. The essays in this book demonstrate that the current regimes of trade, investment and food aid, as well as the development of biofuels production all of which contribute to define the international context in which states implement such reforms should be reshaped if national efforts are to be successful. The implication is that extraterritorial human rights obligations of states (their obligations to respect the right to food beyond their national territories, for instance in their food aid, investment or trade policies), as well as the strengthening of global governance of food security (as is currently being attempted with the reform of the Committee on World Food Security in Rome), have a key role to fulfill: domestic reforms will not achieve sustainable results unless the international environment is more enabling of the efforts of governments acting individually. In this reform process, accountability both at the domestic and international level is essential if sustainable progress is to be achieved in combating global hunger.”
Olivier De Schutter and Kaitlin Y. Cordes (eds.), 2011Description: “This book presents a critical legal perspective on the current direction of EU food regulation. Analysing three regulatory mechanisms – mutual recognition, scientific risk regulation and standardisation – in the evolution of food legislation in the EU, the book shows the inadequacy of the current framework in facing the challenges of enlargement. Using the particular experience of a new member state, Poland, the book argues that enlarged Europe must not disregard diverse socio-economic implications of market regulation. Due to historical legacies and a bias in favour of homogeneity, EU food regulatory regime has generated a one-dimensional crisis-oriented approach. As a result, it tends to overlook other legitimate concerns such as quality, diversity and local traditions. This book argues that this need not be so.”
Karolina Zurek, 2012Description: “This book presents a history of the negotiations towards a fair and market-oriented international agricultural trading system. After an introductory chapter outlining the provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture, the book considers the analysis and information exchange process launched by the 1996 Singapore Declaration and the failed 1999 Seattle Ministerial. The mandated Article 20 negotiations are discussed before consideration is given to the 2001 Doha Declaration. The negotiations are considered in the context of the Cancun and, Hong Kong Ministerials and the July 2008 mini-ministerial before a discussion of the latest version of the Modalities for the Agreement issued in December 2008. The work ends with a look back over the negotiations and consideration of the development dimension of the Doha Round.”
Joseph A. McMahon, 2011Description: “The Fight for the Right to Food gives important insights into the work of the UN’s first Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food from 2000 to 2008, written by the Special Rapporteur himself and his team. This book includes the essential conceptual and legal developments and offers an operational understanding of the right to food by documenting experiences from eleven countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. It identifies the obstacles to the realisation of the right to food, sets out key challenges for the future, and pushes forward the frontiers of international human rights law to address the persistence of hunger in the face of globalisation.”
Description: “How has the World Food Programme come to be so well-regarded—even in the US—despite being part of the much-maligned UN system? What are the political and institutional conditions that have enabled it to accrue legitimacy as an international organization? And how much substance lies behind the perceptions of its effectiveness? Finding the answers to these questions in his analysis of the institutional politics of the WFP, Sandy Ross illustrates important larger issues about international institutions and global governance. He also shows that the very terms of its success limit the WFP’s capacity to change the systemic problems that generate large-scale global hunger.”
Sandy Ross, 2011Current scientific evidence demonstrates that a sixth major extinction of biological diversity event is underway. The Earth is losing between one and ten percent of biodiversity per decade, mostly due to habitat loss, pest invasion, pollution, climate change, over-harvesting and disease. Certain natural ecosystem services, which are vital for human societies, are under stress.
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The World Food Programme in Global Politics / , 2011
European Food Regulation after Enlargement : Facing the Challenges of Diversity / , 2012
The Fight for the Right to Food : Lessons Learned / , 2011
The Regulation of Genetically Modified Organisms: Comparative Approaches / , 2010
Food Crises and the WTO : World Trade Forum / , 2010
The Codex Alimentarius Commission and its Standards / , 2007
