Corporate power and human rights in food systems – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food (A/80/213)

Summary

This report by UN Special Rapporteur Michael Fakhri, submitted to the UN General Assembly under document reference A/80/213, analyses how the concentration of corporate power across food systems — spanning inputs, production, processing, and retail — creates structural barriers to the right to food. Drawing on international human rights law, the report likely sets out findings on how oligopolistic market structures, intellectual property regimes, and investor-state mechanisms constrain smallholder farmers, workers, and consumers. It concludes with actionable recommendations directed at states, corporations, and intergovernmental bodies to rebalance power and strengthen rights-based accountability in food governance.

UK applicability

Although framed in international human rights law and directed at UN member states globally, the report's analysis of corporate concentration and regulatory accountability is directly relevant to UK food policy debates, including competition in agri-input markets, supermarket buyer power, and the UK's post-Brexit trade and food governance frameworks.

Key measures

Assessment of market concentration indicators; human rights compliance frameworks; corporate accountability mechanisms; policy recommendations to member states and international bodies

Outcomes reported

The report examines how concentrated corporate power in food systems undermines the realisation of the right to food, assessing structural harms across food value chains and identifying state and non-state actor obligations under international human rights law.

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