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Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct25/12) Penang, 17 Oct (Kanaga Raja) — A handful of powerful corporations control vast portions of global agricultural production, input markets and food supply chains, a concentration of power that undermines the autonomy of small-scale farmers, exacerbates inequality and endangers the ecological foundations of food systems, a group of United Nations human rights experts warned on 16 October. In their separate reports to the UN General Assembly, the Working Group on peasants and rural workers and the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, warned that the growing dominance of transnational corporations and industrial agribusiness in global food systems poses an escalating threat to food security, rural livelihoods, and human rights. The Working Group on peasants and other people working in rural areas comprises Chair-Rapporteur Carlos Duerte Torres (Colombia); Genevieve Savigny (France); Shalmali Guttal (India); Uche Ewelukwa Ofodile (Nigeria); and Davit Hakobyan (Armenia). “Peasants and small-scale farmers feed the majority of the world’s population with healthy and diverse food, yet they are increasingly marginalised and dispossessed by the expansion of corporate-driven food systems,” the UN experts said, according to a UN news release. “The current model of agribusiness, supported by powerful States, prioritises profit over people and the planet – this must change,” they stressed. In his report (A/80/213) to the UN General Assembly, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food said corporate power in food systems is highly concentrated, allowing a relatively small group of people to shape what is grown, how it is grown, labour conditions, prices and food choices in a way that serves the ultimate goal of profit maximization and not the public good. Corporations have grown so large and powerful over the past several decades that they now globally dominate food systems, he said. “Many transnational agrifood companies are more in the business of selling edible commodities rather than good food. Moreover, corporations are increasingly influencing how policy decisions are being made within national Governments and the United Nations.” The rise of corporate power in food systems correlates with the increasing trend of the industrialization of food production, the UN expert noted. As a result, corporate-led industrial food systems have increased rates of greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity degradation, pollution and systemic human rights violations, Mr. Fakhri pointed out. He also said today, agrifood corporations are turning more towards new digital technologies and large amounts of data processing, through the use of digitalization, which creates new human rights challenges in food systems. (See SUNS #10296 dated 24 September 2025). In its report (A/80/180) to the UN General Assembly, the Working Group on peasants and rural workers said that peasants and rural workers are the backbone of our societies, playing a vital role in sustaining livelihoods, ensuring food security and upholding fundamental rights. Globally, small-scale food producers and rural workers produce over 70 per cent of the world’s food, despite often having limited access to land, finance and resources, it noted. “Smallholder farmers manage more than 80 per cent of the world’s farms, while small-scale fisheries contribute nearly half of the fish consumed by humans, and pastoralists steward vast rangelands critical for biodiversity and cultural heritage.” Their work underpins rural economies and provides essential nutrition for billions, said the Working Group. According to estimates, 90 per cent of all people directly dependent on capture fisheries work in the small-scale fishery sector. Therefore, small-scale fisheries play a crucial economic, social and cultural role in local economies and help to achieve food security, it pointed out. The centrality of peasants and rural workers in societal existence and prosperity renders them a critical part of the solution to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, said the report by the Working Group. The Working Group said across the globe, peasants are on the front-lines of climate adaptation, developing and sharing agroecological practices, conserving seeds and biodiversity and promoting sustainable food systems that can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and restore ecosystems. “Their lived experience and traditional knowledge are indispensable for crafting effective responses to these intertwined threats, making their meaningful participation in decision-making at the international, national and local levels not just a right, but a necessity.” The Working Group recognized the special relationship between peasants and rural workers and the land, water and nature where they live and work and on which they depend for their livelihood. It also shared the conviction of the UN General Assembly of the need for greater protection of the human rights of peasants and rural workers and for a coherent interpretation and application of existing international human rights norms and standards in this matter. According to the UN news release, corporate practices, including large-scale land acquisitions, monopolisation of seeds and agrochemicals, food speculation, exploitative contract farming, and the escalating corporate capture of decision-making spaces traditionally held by peasants and rural workers in the food system governance have cumulatively created deep dependencies that erode rural resilience and undermine the autonomy of those who sustain our food systems. Digital technologies are further reshaping food systems, often extending corporate control through the capture of agricultural data. These trends, combined with the climate crisis, have further jeopardised the right to food for millions. The UN experts reaffirmed that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) provides a crucial legal framework for addressing systemic injustices faced by small-scale farmers, fisherfolks, pastoralists and rural agricultural workers. “States have an obligation to regulate corporate activity, prevent human rights violations and abuses, and ensure access to justice for victims,” they said. “Voluntary commitments are not enough. The rights enshrined in UNDROP – including rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, and participation – must be implemented through binding laws and robust accountability mechanisms,” they added. “To ensure digitalisation serves equitable and sustainable food systems, data governance must protect farmers’ rights, knowledge, and autonomy.” Peasants and rural workers harmfully affected by corporate misconduct, from land grabs and toxic exposure to wage theft and forced evictions, still struggle to access effective remedies. Against this backdrop, the Working Group and the Special Rapporteur called on all governments, the private sector and UN agencies to place small-scale farmers, fisherfolks, pastoralists and rural workers at the center of food policies and global governance. “Food is not a commodity – it is a human right,” they said. “We must act now to ensure that those who feed the world can live and work with dignity, free from exploitation and fear.” Ahead of the 20 to 24 October session of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights, the UN experts urged all Member States to prioritise the finalisation of a legally binding treaty to regulate corporations and financial institutions and hold them accountable for human rights violations and abuses. “A binding treaty is essential to close the accountability gap and re-balance power in our food systems. Without enforceable obligations, corporate impunity will continue to erode human rights and the planet’s capacity to feed itself sustainably,” they said. +
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