Agribusiness Atlas 2026

The world faces its fourth wave of global food price crises in just 20 years. This atlas not only documents the damaging impacts of corporate power within the food system but also highlights practical alternatives and successful efforts to curb corporate dominance and guarantee access to healthy, affordable food.

Today, just a handful of corporations determine what is grown in our fields, what ends up on supermarket shelves, and ultimately what we eat. This concentration of market power did not emerge overnight

Corporations and their lobby groups often enjoy privileged access to European and national policymakers. In terms of budget, the number of lobbyists, and meetings with officials, they greatly outnumber trade unions and civil society organisations which defend the public interest.

Our food system is exacting a heavy toll on the climate. Green hydrogen for fertilisers, agrofuels, and carbon farming are all touted as ways to reduce or offset emissions. Yet rather than delivering climate neutrality, these technical fixes often create new problems.

GPS sensors, cloud-based systems and artificial intelligence are fundamentally reshaping agriculture. A small number of corporations control the market and are pushing farms into ever greater dependence.

During the 20th century, food systems globally were largely dominated by US multinational corporations and, to a lesser extent, European ones. In recent decades, this landscape has shifted, as Chinese corporations have steadily expanded their influence in agricultural trade and the agrochemical sector. Since many of these corporations are state-owned, their rise reflects not only market dynamics but also a deliberate government strategy.

The European Union (EU) is stepping up efforts to draw in private investment to meet its biodiversity and climate goals. This risks speculation, prioritises profitable projects over vital habitats, and reduces nature to tradable commodities. 

The world's largest meat and dairy corporations emit as much greenhouse gas as entire countries and resist limits using fossil fuel lobby tactics. Data is key to accountability, but progress on reporting remains slow and under threat.

A handful of corporations now shape what kind of fish and seafood reach dinner plates worldwide. The industry has grown more concentrated and industrialised, from Norwegian salmon farms to global supply chains. Aquaculture has surged, yet wild stocks remain under pressure as fleets push further offshore. The shift is changing who profits and at what cost to consumers and the environment.

Agrochemical corporations export pesticides that are banned in the European Union to countries where safeguards for health and the environment are weak. For BASF, Bayer, Syngenta and others, this is a lucrative business. For many people in the Global South, the consequences are severe.

Access to clean water is a human right since 2010. Yet this vital resource is increasingly coming under corporate control. Across the world, corporations extract groundwater and spring water, selling it in branded bottles at prices that are often many times higher than those of tap water.

A small number of global players dominate the trade in animal feed, much of which is produced at the expense of rainforest and savannah clearance and the displacement of Indigenous communities. At the end of these supply chains, soya from corporations such as Cargill ends up in feed troughs on farms across Europe.

How are food prices determined? How are profits distributed along the supply chain? For consumers, this is often quite hard to discern. Scientific studies consistently show that prices are rarely determined by supply and demand alone. Instead, they are shaped by power relations within the food system.

Deregulation of agricultural markets has led to volatile prices, unequal subsidies and farmers often selling below production costs. This undermines livelihoods and sustainable farming. Stronger European market regulation and fair pricing rules are needed to secure stable incomes and sustainability, and drive the much-needed agroecological transition.

For millions of households in the United States, putting food on the table has become a daily struggle. Meanwhile, a handful of powerful suppliers dominate everyday staples such as eggs, soft drinks, beef, chocolate. By doing so, they reap enormous profits. One possible solution: public-sector stores that treat food not as a commodity but as a public good to make healthy, affordable food accessible to everyone. This idea could help reshape the food system.

Across Africa, millions of people still rely on territorial markets rooted in local food cultures and informal trade. As food imports rise and ultra-processed diets spread, these food networks are not relics of the past, but essential to Africa's future. Yet these systems are rarely in the focus of agricultural or investment policy.