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The problem with growing corporate concentration and power in the global food system
Abstract
What are the potential consequences when a relatively small number of large firms come to dominate markets within the global food system? This Perspective examines the implications of corporate concentration and power in the global seed and agrochemical industry, a sector that has become more consolidated in recent years. It outlines the pathways via which concentrated firms in this sector have the potential to exert power in food systems more broadly-both directly and indirectly-in ways that matter for food system outcomes. Specifically, concentrated firms can shape markets, shape technology and innovation agendas, and shape policy and governance frameworks. This Perspective makes the case that a range of measures are needed to ensure that corporate concentration and power do not undermine key goals for food systems, such as equitable livelihoods, sustainability and broad-based participation in food system governance. These include measures to strengthen competition policies, to bolster public sector support for diverse food systems, and to curb corporate influence in the policy process.
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“A growing body of research documents a high degree of corporate concentration all along global agrifood supply chains (e.g., ETC Group 2022; Clapp 2021; IPES-Food 2017; Hendrickson et al. 2020; Howard 2016; Deconinck 2021; Crespi and MacDonald 2022; Sexton and Xia 2018; Slater et al. 2024).”
From Corporate concentration and power matter for agency in food systems (2025) · cites this paper as Clapp 2021
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“farmers' decisions to adopt GM crops hinge on the expected profits of adoption and the associated risks ( 31 ), the availability of the technology and its alternatives, marketing exposure ( 32 ) and farm characteristics including farm size and farmer education level ( 33 ).”
From Environmental impacts of genetically modified crops (2024) · cites this paper as [33]
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Dalhaus, T., Finger, R., Tzachor, A., & Möhring, N. (2024) · Nature Food · doi:10.1038/s43016-024-01080-0 · Cited by 25
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“…South have suffered a fundamental lack of influence in decision-making power within the increasing corporatization of the global food industry focused on profit and spearheaded by a small number of transnational corporate firms (Clapp 2021) and creating a dependence on food import (Clapp 2009).”
BackgroundKeegan, S., Reis, K., Roiko, A. H., & Desha, C. (2023) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-023-01418-9 · Cited by 31
“Increasingly concentrated corporate power across food industries has favoured the growth of long, complex supply chains, often to the detriment of smaller farming or food retail businesses (Carey et al., 2020; Pulker et al., 2018) and the traditional food cultures of populations (Clapp, 2021).”
Climate Data Practices: A Research Approach for HCI and Climate Justice
Soden, R., Agrawaal, T. S., Lord, A., Chanen, C., Flawn, L., Seaifan, Z., Classens, M., & Easterbrook, S. (2025) · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction · doi:10.1145/3719346 · Cited by 24
“This is operationalized through genetic narrowing and the enclosure of seed germplasm, through which exclusive property rights are afforded to an ever-more concentrated number of global seed corporations [23].”
Carrad, A., Aguirre‐Bielschowsky, I., Rose, N., Charlton, K. E., & Reeve, B. H. (2022) · Health Promotion Journal of Australia · doi:10.1002/hpja.626 · Cited by 23
Mapping actor networks in global multi-stakeholder initiatives for food system transformation
Akker, A. V. D., Fabbri, A., Slater, S., Gilmore, A., Knai, C., & Rutter, H. (2024) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-024-01476-7 · Cited by 25
“…platforms, the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) faced significant criticism over its central inclusion of transnational corporations, failure to acknowledge power asymmetries and exclusion of indigenous and civil society groups (Canfield et al., 2021; Clapp et al., 2021).”
InfluentialPeng, B., Zhao, Y., Elahi, E., & Wan, A. (2022) · Energy · doi:10.1016/j.energy.2022.126280 · Cited by 21
Civil society engagement in food systems governance in Canada: Experiences, gaps, and possibilities
Levkoe, C. Z., Andrée, P., Ballamingie, P., Tasala, K., Wilson, A. D., & Korzun, M. (2023) · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · doi:10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.005 · Cited by 21
Re-imagining the UN Committee on World Food Security
Guttal, S. (2021) · Development · doi:10.1057/s41301-021-00322-z · Cited by 21
“…corporations exercise a high degree of influence within and over the global food system, powered by mergers and acquisitions of one another ‘to form giant ‘mega-companies’ that are central players in what can only be described as a profound reconfiguration of the world food economy’ (Clapp 2021).”
BackgroundPettinger, C., Hunt, L., Gardiner, H., Garg, P., Howard, L., & Wagstaff, C. (2023) · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · doi:10.1017/s0029665123004913 · Cited by 24
Smart technology for public health: reshaping the future of food safety
Liberty, J. T., Bromage, S., Peter, E., Ihedioha, O. C., Alsalman, F. B., & Odogwu, T. S. (2025) · Food Control · doi:10.1016/j.foodcont.2025.111378 · Cited by 26
Chamanara, S., Goldstein, B. P., & Newell, J. P. (2023) · Supply Chain Management An International Journal · doi:10.1108/scm-02-2022-0068 · Cited by 20
Cobalt: corporate concentration 1975–2018
Ericsson, M., Löf, A., Löf, O., & Müller, D. B. (2023) · Mineral Economics · doi:10.1007/s13563-023-00391-1 · Cited by 20
“Similar aspects of the global food system have recently been studied by Jennifer Clapp (2021) and in an earlier paper also the extractive industries are mentioned (Clapp and Purugganan 2020).”
BackgroundUnderstanding and Addressing Disaster Risk
Wisner, B., Alcántara-Ayala, I., Gaillard, J., Kelman, I., & Marchezini, V. (2025) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003292814 · Cited by 27
Shaw, R., & Soma, T. (2022) · Frontiers in Communication · doi:10.3389/fcomm.2022.1007567 · Cited by 19
“In essence, the claim that “whatever is good in space is good for Earth” is disconnected from the reality of food injustice, the impact of colonial imperialism and growing corporate power on Earth (Clapp, 2021) and the problem of worldview.”
BackgroundNelson, K. S., & Burchfield, E. (2023) · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · doi:10.3389/fsufs.2023.1081079 · Cited by 20
“Similarly, access to specific equipment or inputs can support production outcomes while constraining on-farm cultivation possibilities (Vanloqueren and Baret, 2009; Rissing, 2016; Clapp, 2021).”
BackgroundDeveloping the agroecological niche in Nicaragua: The roles of knowledge flows and intermediaries
Schiller, K., Klerkx, L., Centeno, D. J. S., & Poortvliet, P. M. (2023) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2206195120 · Cited by 19
McMichael, P. (2021) · Development · doi:10.1057/s41301-021-00304-1 · Cited by 18
Research needs for a food system transition
McDermid, S., Hayek, M., Jamieson, D. W., Hale, G. B., & Kanter, D. (2023) · Climatic Change · doi:10.1007/s10584-023-03507-2 · Cited by 22
“…pathways to meet food system target scenarios is important as well, and these will in large part almost certainly depend on the status and influence of power structures embedded with the food system (Clapp 2018, 2021) that govern and constrain its political ecologies across space and time.”
BackgroundReclaiming Diverse Seed Commons Through Food Sovereignty, Agroecology and Economies of Care
Pimbert, M. P. (2022) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-89405-4_2 · Cited by 17
“Such transformations demand decisive public intervention by states to limit the disproportionate power of a handful of corporations in the governance of seeds (Clapp, 2021) and the global food system (Canfield et al.”
BackgroundPolitics of Seed in Ethiopia's Agricultural Transformation: Pathways to Seed System Development
Mulesa, T. H. (2021) · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.742001 · Cited by 16
“The IPR protection has given more power to the private sector in the seed industry to make independent decisions on what to invest in and the type of technology they can promote (Kuyek, 2007; Clapp, 2021).”
BackgroundTschersich, J., Sievers-Glotzbach, S., Gmeiner, N., & Kliem, L. (2022) · Journal of Rural Studies · doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.12.005 · Cited by 16
Wilkinson, T. J., Nye, C., Lobley, M., West, H. G., Clappison, A., Hilton, J., & Goodwin, A. (2024) · Journal of Rural Studies · doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2024.103281 · Cited by 19
Piters, B. D. S., Termeer, E., Bakker, D., Fonteijn, H., & Brouwer, H. (2021) · Sustainable development · doi:10.5772/intechopen.99899 · Cited by 17
Digitalization in production and warehousing in food supply chains
Sgarbossa, F., Romsdal, A., Oluyisola, O. E., & Strandhagen, J. O. (2022) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-91614-1.00016-2 · Cited by 15
Local innovation in food system policies: A case study of six Australian local governments
Carrad, A., Turner, L., Rose, N., Charlton, K. E., & Reeve, B. H. (2022) · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · doi:10.5304/jafscd.2022.121.007 · Cited by 15
Isgren, E., Clough, Y., Murage, A. W., & Andersson, E. (2023) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-023-01387-z · Cited by 15
“…the global seed and agrochemical industry translates to increasing influence to shape not only agricultural markets and technology pathways but also policy and governance frameworks, in ways that may undermine the goals of equitable, healthy and sustainable food systems more broadly (Clapp, 2021).”
BackgroundDegrowth as a plausible pathway for food systems transformation
Gibson, M., Mason-D’Croz, D., Norberg, A., Conti, C., Alvarado, M. B., & Herrero, M. (2025) · Nature Food · doi:10.1038/s43016-024-01108-5 · Cited by 15
“However, the nature of this transformation is deeply contested, with powerful actors working to maintain the status quo or shape future pathways in their interest 10–12 .”
Klassen, S., Medland, L., Nicol, P., & Pitt, H. (2023) · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · doi:10.5304/jafscd.2023.122.004 · Cited by 12
“…interests (Birner et al., 2021; Carolan, 2020; Duncan et al., 2022), and rarely seek to advance ecologically diversified or socially just alternatives to industrialized food production (Wittman et al., 2020), risking potentially adverse lock-ins with undesirable consequences (Clapp, 2021).”
BackgroundEkaputri, A. D., Gaveau, D., Heilmayr, R., & Carlson, K. M. (2025) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-025-02683-6 · Cited by 14
“Smallholder exclusion has immense consequences for global food system equity and sustainability 84 .”
Metadata
- Authors
- Clapp, J.
- ORCID
- Clapp, Jennifer
- Venue
- Nature Food
- Published
- 2021-06-03
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 404-408
- ISSN
- 2662-1355 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3170531652
- Cited by
- 359
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 81 · 2025: 92 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 67 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 17
- FWCI
- 2.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature Food (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Gouvernement du Canada | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2020-0664)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Development › Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economics of Agriculture and Food Markets
- Keywords
- business concentration, market power, global food system, seed industry, agrochemical industry, industry consolidation, competition policy, food governance, corporate influence on policy, innovation agenda, sustainability
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