How does the human rights perspective help to shape the food and nutritionpolicy research agenda?

Food as a human right was first laid down 50 years ago in the Universal Dec laration of Human Rights. The last 10 years in particular, has witnessed an increased recognition of the importance of the human rights approach for d esigning policies and interventions that promote food and nutrition securit y, as evidenced by the highly visible role given to human rights at the 199 6 World Food Summit. But, given that the design of effective policies and i nterventions is based on good analysis and information, what are the implic ations of the human rights approach for the food and nutrition policy resea rch agenda? This is the question we address in this paper. We note several implications of the human rights perspective in terms of (1) new research a reas; (2) new perspectives on old issues; and (3) implications for research methods. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.