Top 10 Agribusiness Giants

Our new research, co-published with GRAIN, provides a snapshot of the global food system, updating previous research to expose the state of concentration in six key agricultural sectors: commercial seeds, pesticides, synthetic fertilisers, farm machinery, animal pharmaceuticals and livestock genetics. 

 

The new figures confirm the intense corporate concentration of global agribusiness, leaving the food chain profoundly vulnerable to intensifying climate impacts and ripple effects of war on Iran.

 

“A food crisis is on the horizon, and these companies are in prime position to cash in on global hunger, with their concentration of power over the food system ultimately driving the very vulnerabilities they exploit,” says Mónica Vargas, researcher at GRAIN. “Supply chain shocks caused by Hormuz closures already led to huge windfalls for fertiliser companies, driving up prices for farmers and consumers, particularly in the Global South.” 

 

In other key sectors, such as animal pharmaceuticals and livestock genetics, concentration enables a small number of companies to profit from the susceptibility to diseases inherent in large-scale, intensive production and highly selected mono-breeds.

 

“Our food system has never looked so vulnerable, and our research shows it is now also under siege from big tech,” says Taarini Chopra, senior campaigner and researcher at ETC Group. “The top agribusiness giants listed in our report are teaming up with the most powerful companies on Earth - Microsoft, Google, Amazon - to harvest data and lock farmers in to costly digital platforms. We urgently need to disentangle food systems from this corporate stranglehold and give control back to farmers and communities.”