The Effectiveness of competition law as a merchanism for the protection of the right to food in an African context

Abstract

This dissertation aims to provide a study on the right to food in an African context and to determine whether or not African states may effectively adopt competition law as a mechanism to protect against hunger. The study begins by examining the right to food and the obligations which flow from this right. Given that the predominant reason that people suffer from hunger is because they lack the ability to economically access adequate food, the dissertation examines the obligations of states to protect this right against abuse from non-state parties. In the framework of the food supply chain, this equates to providing protection against companies such as commodity traders and retailers that have gained a dominant position in the food market and are consequently in a position where they are able to abuse this position of power over the smaller producers and suppliers. The dissertation analyses the importance of the right to food by looking at the key role which smallholder farmers play in their communities. This is central to an African based study because smallholders make up the majority of the world’s hungry people, and it is also the foremost means through which people in Africa gain an income. The study looks at the traditional purpose of competition law and examines whether it would be an effective means to regulate the food market in order to guard against the abusive practices committed by large food companies that threaten the livelihoods of African smallholders. The dissertation concludes with an investigation into the international best practices that can be drawn from competition law regimes across the globe, in order to provide recommendations for a competition regime that is particular to an African context and which would provide the best possible protection for smallholder farmers to ensure that the right to food is upheld.