Food Security and Sovereignty: Comparative Analysis of Seven Laws in Latin America

This is a comparative study of food security and/or sovereignty laws in seven countries of Latin America, which aim is to determine how the right to food is embodied in these legal instruments. An ex-post evaluation was used, based on five related enforcement criteria, which are: focus, institutional, social participation, evaluation, and financing. It was found that five of seven countries tend to focus on food sovereignty, even excluding this concept in its title. Moreover, a group of countries propose an Institutional instances derived based on the executive; and another group of countries opt for deconcentrate functions. Only three countries consider the inclusion of a social organization in the political agenda; and striking low or no private-enterprise participation of all the laws. Three countries make a concrete proposal to evaluate the state regarding the right to food; and all the countries addressed the financing superficially.