Right to Food and Climate Change in Southern Africa: International and National Protection for Indigenous Peoples. The Cases of South Africa, Namibia and Botswana

Abstract

This article explores the concept of the “right to food” through an indigenous peoples rights lens and in the context of climate change in southern Africa. The article critically examines the legal framework relevant to the “right to food” at the international and African regional level. The article then focuses on the legal situations in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, and describes the domestic regulatory framework and case-law developments. The state of the play appears to be highly diversified in these three countries. This article strives to ground the legal analysis with a review of the current situation regarding the right to food for indigenous peoples in the selected countries. The article describes different levels of advancement of the legal right to food at the national level as well as different methods pursued to implement the right. However, as indigenous peoples are not identified as a specific grouping in many studies or in some national census data, it is difficult to develop a comprehensive overview of whether their right to food is attained in practice. The article suggests that to ascertain whether states are fulfilling their three key obligations regards RtF, namely to respect, protect and fulfill, indigenous representatives must be consulted.

Keywords: Right to Food; Climate Change; Food Security; Southern Africa