The Next Agribusiness Takeover: Multilateral Food Agencies

Between now and late 2021, the World Economic Forum, agri-food conglomerates, IT companies and philanthropists (led by the Gates Foundation) have teamed up to spearhead three separate initiatives which could converge and utterly transform the multilateral agricultural system.

At stake is influence over four institutions with a combined annual budget of $11 billion and 5100 scientific/professional staff.

• A rumoured summit to be cooked up by the World Food Systems Summit (WFSS) could transform the old public-private partnerships into a new bilateralism between agribusiness and governments.
• Consolidation of the CGIAR (international agricultural research system) will ensure the delivery of so- called Climate-Smart Agriculture.
• Third, an International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture will entrench Big Data (including digital DNA) as the solution to everything. 

The Summit provides the framework; CGIAR is the delivery system; and Big Data is the product.

» Download the full communiqué [pdf]