14 8. Linkage between the Right to Food and Other Human Rights Realization of right to health is essential to the fulfillment of other human rights. The ‘right to life’ and the ‘right to health’ are inextricably linked to the ‘right to food’.30 Hunger and undernourishment directly or indirectly account for over half of the deaths in the world. Nutrition is a component of both the right to health and the right to food. It is related to right to life because when people are not able to feed themselves and face the risk of death by starvation, malnutrition or resulting illnesses, their right to life would also be at stake. Enjoyment of the right to food is contingent upon the realization of the right to education and the right to work as well. Malnutrition impedes learning and psychosocial development of children and may force them to drop out of school. Moreover, to be free from hunger and malnutrition, individuals need to know how to maintain a nutritious diet and have the skills and capacity to produce or obtain food as a livelihood.31 Poor health, and low education and skill development, in turn, limit access to decent work that is safe and provides incomes above the poverty level.32 Information is crucial for the right to food. It enables individuals to know about food and nutrition, markets and the allocation of resources. It strengthens people’s participation and free consumer choice. Therefore, right to food is related to right to information.33 The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 12 states: The human right to adequate food is of crucial importance for the enjoyment of all rights.34 The Committee affirms that the right to adequate food is indivisibly linked to the inherent dignity of the human person and is indispensable for the fulfillment of other human rights enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights.35 9. Defining the Right to Food 30 Fact Sheet Fact Sheet No. 34, 32 Susan Randolph, The Right to Food: A Global Overview, 33 Fact Sheet No. 34. 34 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), General Comment No. 12: The Right to Adequate Food (Art. 11 of the Covenant), 12 May 1999, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4538838c11.html [accessed 27 May 2014] 35 Ibid, para. 4 31