This report examines the role of commodity buyers, food processors and retailers in
the realization of the right to food. These actors play a key role, as they connect producers
to consumers, and as they transform raw commodities into edible food. But the vast
majority of those who are hungry in the world today are part of the food system; small
independent food producers or waged agricultural workers working on farms in the formal
or informal sector represent over half of the billion who go hungry today. The report
therefore asks how the sourcing, pricing, and wages policies of commodity buyers, food
processors and retailers impact the right to food. The report seeks to contribute to a better
understanding, by agribusiness corporations and States alike, of their respective
responsibilities and obligations under international law. It ends with 10 recommendations
to States and the agribusiness sector to ensure that the current transformation of the food
chain will contribute to the realization of the right to food. The recommendations relate to a
range of areas, including codes of conduct and international framework agreements,
cooperatives, marketing boards, public procurement, and competition law.