Reaction: Food summit “lacked focus” on food system control

Date: 20 November 2023
Campaigns: Food

In response to today’s Food Security Summit, Tim Bierley, campaigner at Global Justice Now said:

“Technology will have a role to play in food production, but there was a lack of focus in this summit on who controls our food systems. Increasing corporate concentration in seeds and agricultural products has already eroded the power of smallholders, dictating what farmers can grow and how, and pricing farmers off land.

“Now, big tech and agricultural companies are seeking to build even greater power by introducing new forms of farming that hoover up the data collected by farmers. We must make sure that the next round of farming technology doesn’t place even more power in the hands of big corporations. New tech must be developed and adopted in a transparent way – and data must be locally owned to prevent corporations manipulating and profiting from this.”

---

Photo: Jess Hurd