From Hunger to Justice: Rethinking Food Systems and Corporate Power

Despite rising global awareness of hunger and malnutrition, food insecurity continues to affect billions of people worldwide. While climate change, conflict, and inflation remain major drivers, deeper structural forces within the global food system are shaping outcomes in ways that often prioritize corporate profit over public good. From the industrialization of agriculture to the digitalization of supply chains, food systems are increasingly controlled by a handful of powerful actors. These dynamics affect what is grown, how it is distributed, and who gets to eat—not just in times of crisis, but in everyday life. Ending hunger is a crucial foundation of social progress and a key to long-term development outcomes.

Across countries and regions, states are working to respond. Some are strengthening smallholder protections, regulating corporate influence, and promoting nutrition-sensitive food environments. Others are prioritizing land redistribution, sustainable production, and legal frameworks that support the right to adequate food. But these efforts remain fragmented, and transformative change is still needed to build more equitable, accountable, and resilient food systems.

National and Global Efforts to Advance the Right to Food

Governments, UN agencies, and civil society actors are taking steps to re-center food systems around human rights, not just markets. Countries such as Bolivia, Mexico, and Ecuador have prioritized the conservation of native seeds and the rights of smallholder and Indigenous farmers. Brazil has expanded public procurement programs that favor family farms and local fresh food, while several Latin American countries, including Chile, Peru, and Mexico, have adopted front-of-package nutrition labeling to combat the rise of ultra-processed foods and associated health risks.

Global platforms like the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) have pushed for stronger collaboration across sectors. In 2024, the CFS endorsed new policy recommendations focused on reducing inequality in food systems, advancing decent work in agriculture, and strengthening urban food governance. A growing number of stakeholders are also mobilizing around the 20th anniversary of the Right to Food Guidelines, which continues to serve as a foundational tool for implementing rights-based approaches at the national level. These guidelines emphasize not only access to food, but also transparency, accountability, and community participation in shaping food policy.

Corporate Power and the Challenges of Food Security

Food price spikes and hunger trends are rooted in deeper structural causes that reinforce inequality and instability. A handful of corporations control large segments of the global food system, from seed and fertilizer production to digital logistics and AI-powered platforms. These companies not only shape consumer choices and farmer behavior but increasingly influence policy-making at national and international levels. As a result, the industrial food model has driven biodiversity loss, pollution, exploitative labor practices, and the erosion of traditional food cultures.

Food insecurity is not just a rural issue. In rapidly urbanizing regions, poor households face unequal access to healthy diets, while fast-food chains and supermarkets displace informal markets and increase reliance on ultra-processed products. Climate change, land degradation, and water pollution, often driven by industrial agriculture, further intensify vulnerability. Small-scale producers, especially women and Indigenous communities, are disproportionately affected by these systemic pressures and often excluded from digital innovations that are reshaping the future of food.

Toward Equitable and Accountable Food Systems

The report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, titled “Corporate power and human rights in food systems” (A/80/213) examines how a small number of transnational corporations have come to dominate food systems and outlines actions needed to uphold human rights, ensure market fairness, and reduce corporate influence over public policy. The report on the main decisions, outcomes and policy recommendations of the Committee on World Food Security (A/80/73–E/2025/51) summarizes the outcomes of the Committee’s 2024 session, including new global policy guidance on reducing inequality, strengthening the right to food, and transforming food systems in the face of conflict, malnutrition, and climate change.

Together, the two reports highlight the need for more equitable, accountable, and rights-based approaches to food governance and affirm that ending hunger is essential to achieving meaningful social progress. These goals will require political will, international cooperation, and a commitment to placing food systems at the center of inclusive development.

Read the report “Corporate power and human rights in food systems” here.
Read the report “Main outcomes of the Committee on World Food Security” here.