The right to water is a self-standing right inextricably connected to the right to an adequate standard of living, and is understood to be also inherent in the right to health and the right to life. The right to water and the right to food are intimately connected and therefore, these rights are expected to mutually support the realization of one another with a view to contributing to an adequate standard of living.

The scope of the human right to water has mostly been understood to encompass domestic uses, for drinking and for hygiene. However, water is also essential for food production, but are there grounds in international law for stating that there is a right to water for food production or for agriculture more broadly? The FAO Legal Office has been faced with this question in a number of contexts, including in the preparation of a study on water for food security by the High Level Panel of the Committee on World Food Security, and in the elaboration of other international instruments pertaining to water for food and agriculture.

This study is commissioned with a view to bridging existing knowledge gaps on the relationship of the human right to water and effective water governance with sustainable agriculture and the human right to food. This study addresses the above-mentioned question by interpreting the right to water and discussing its linkages with other human rights, in particular, the right to food and other fields of law, from trade and investment law to climate change and biodiversity law, to understand the possible scope of such a human right. It also examines the implications of the human right to water for food production and agriculture for a human rights-based approach to water governance