Kenyan Pastoralist Malih Ole Kaunga (second from right) together with representatives from Forum on Environment and Development and Parliamentary State Secretary Martina Englhardt-Kopf (second from left).
Photo: Nick Jaussi/ www.wir-haben-es-satt.de
“Water is a human right, not a commodity!”
By Paula Gioia, Stig Tanzmann, Jan Dreier, Silke Bollmohr and Johanna Entrup
On the occasion of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) and the Berlin Agriculture Minister’s Conference in mid-January in Berlin, Germany, members of the German NGO association Forum Umwelt und Entwicklung (Forum on Environment and Development), together with farmers, handed over a protest note to Martina Englhardt-Kopf, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (BMLEH).
The note was motivated by growing global concern regarding the management of water, which is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. The climate crisis, industrial agriculture and inadequate or unfair regulations are exacerbating conflicts over water use – both in Germany and in the Global South. Smallholder farmers, pastoralists, fishers and Indigenous Peoples are increasingly losing access to water, while large agricultural companies are profiting from intensive irrigation and privatisation.
“Whether in Brandenburg, Bavaria or the Global South: when water becomes a commodity, we lose our livelihoods,” Lucia Birkmeir from the young farmers' association jAbL pointed out to the BMLEH. “Without clear regulations and targeted support programmes, we will lose soil, farms and, ultimately, our food security.”
Human rights must set the framework for action
The note’s central demand is the implementation of the right to food and water. In the context of the United Nations declaring 2026 the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, this also means protecting communally used grazing land and water. The preservation of common property and water rights for pastoralists and fishermen should be secured and Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) made binding.
This was also emphasised by pastoralist Malih Ole Kaunga from the Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation (IMPACT) Kenya when he handed over the protest note, stating: “Water is a scarce resource, and access to clean drinking water is a human right. Water is the basis for peace. If we protect it as a common good, we create cooperation and food security.”
Light and shadow in the final communiqué
From a human rights perspective, the organisations recognise some positive signals in the final declaration, but also sees a potential for problematic developments given some open and non-binding wording. In view of the attacks on the United Nations, a clear commitment to the UN as a central institution in global water governance and the recognition of the CFS's policy recommendations on water for food security and quality are steps in the right direction. The emphasis on equal participation and equal access to water for vulnerable and underrepresented groups, as well as the promotion of gender equality, are also viewed positively.
On the other hand, there is no clear commitment to a rights-based water policy. This is also reflected in the fact that it is not the Special Rapporteur on the right to water who is explicitly recognised, but rather the parallel structure that is not based on human rights – the UN Special Envoy for Water. There is also no mention of the democratisation of global water governance. Furthermore, the final communiqué is silent on the importance of the communal use of land and water resources.
The call for the inclusion of the agricultural sector in water policy decisions offers particularly broad scope for interpretation. This must above all be applied to particularly affected and marginalised groups. Otherwise, there is a great danger that their rights will continue to be ignored and even violated by the already dominant representation of the interests of the agricultural, food and fisheries industries.
Now, international agriculture ministers must integrate their commitment to the UN and social participation into their political actions. If the agriculture ministers are prepared to implement such rights-based policies, civil society will support them in doing so.
Paula Gioia is Advisor for International Agriculture Policy at Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft (AbL).
Stig Tanzmann is a consultant for agriculture with Brot für die Welt.
Jan Dreier is Policy Advisor on the Right to Food in Germany and on Agroecology at FIAN Germany.
Silke Bollmohr is Policy Advisor for Global Agriculture at INKOTA network.
Johanna Entrup is Policy Officer for Food, Nutrition and Agriculture at Misereor.
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