The Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism has consistently warned the UN Food Systems Summit was not designed to trigger the deep systemic changes needed to address the world’s most pressing challenges, including the hunger and climate crises. Instead, it would do more of the same – green and poor washing – to preserve and perpetuate interests of a system of globalized, corporate-dominated trade, investment and finance, that benefits the world’s 10 percent, but has wreaked havoc on our planet and majority of the world’s people.
In October 2019, the Secretary-General of the United Nations announced he would convene a Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in 2021 with the aims to maximize the benefits of a food systems approach across the 2030 Agenda, meet the challenges of climate change, make food systems inclusive, and support sustainable peace.
Since 2021, civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, and social movements have consistently denounced the UNFSS for sidelining small-scale food producers, prioritizing corporate interests, and lacking safeguards against conflict of interest and accountability mechanisms.
2021: The Peoples’ Autonomous Response to the UNFSS
In 2021, the Summit was challenged by an unprecedented countermobilization led by peasants, small-scale food producers, civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, and social movements.
They warned the Summit was designed to advance the corporate agenda of industrial agriculture, rather than address the systemic causes of hunger.
2023: Social movements and Indigenous Peoples challenge the UN Food Systems Summit+2
In 2023, the UN Secretary General convened the UNFSS Stocktaking Moment (UNFSS+2) in Rome. In response, hundreds of grassroots groups participating in the Peoples’ Autonomous Response to the UNFSS organized a series of webinars and a press conference to denounce the Summit’s multistakeholder governance model, which further entrenched corporate influence in the UN.
These events shed light on:
- How UN leaders enables corporations to help shape the agenda and solutions
- How UNFSS+2 risks consolidating corporate control over food systems
- The failures of industrial food chains
- Effective policy solutions to the global food crisis
- How global food governance can better support the world’s food producers.
2025: UNFSS+4 turns a blind eye to the geopolitical food and hunger crises
The UNFSS+4 marks the second stocktaking moment since 2021. In response to an invitation to engage in the process, the CSIPM Coordination Committee, the Global Food Governance and Youth Working Groups met with UN Deputy Secretary-General (UN DSG) Amina Mohammed, in April and June 2025. These meetings were facilitated by the CFS Chair, Ambassador Nosipho Jezile, following a CSIPM request made during the CFS Bureau and Advisory Group meeting on March 18.
Participants also included the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub and representatives of Brazil during the 27 June meeting.
These exchanges continued the cordial and thoughtful dialogue initiated with the UN DSG on April 30 2021. While the UN DSG stressed the importance of CSIPM participation, the CSIPM shared the results of the collective assessment, concluding that:
- No structural reforms have been made to the governance of the UNFSS since 2021.
- Safeguards against conflicts of interest remain grossly insufficient.
- Corporate actors continue to hold disproportionate influence over the Summit.
The CSIPM also warned that UNFSS+4 ignores critical global issues such as:
- The unprecedented instrumentalization as a weapon of war
- Food apartheid, and exclusion of marginalized communities
- Drastic cuts to public development aid
- Rising authoritarianism, and attacks on human rights’ defenders
During the meeting with the UN DSG, the CFS Chairperson and representatives from Brazil, the CSIPM formally communicated its decision not to participate nor engage in the UNFSS+4. While the dialogue helped clarify differing perspectives and concerns, it did not represent any form of engagement with the preparations towards UNFSS+4.
The CFS Chairperson, with support from Brazil’s Ambassador to the UN Rome-Based Agencies, proposed that the outcomes of UNFSS+4 be presented during the CFS 53 Plenary Session. The CSIPM welcomed this proposal, as it would allow for a comprehensive analysis of the Summit’s outcome within an inclusive multilateral space.
Read the CSIPM press release
Join the webinar Naming the elephants in the room | 25 July 2025 at 14:00 Rome time
Resources
- CSIPM letter sent to the UN Deputy Secretary General, April 2025
- CSIPM letter sent to the UN Deputy Secretary General, June 2025
- Letter from the UN Deputy Secretary General, June 2025
- A critical analysis of the UNFSS roadmap for “Corporate accountability” of food systems transformation. (2024).
- Multistakeholderism and the corporate capture of global food governance. What is at risk in 2023? (2023)
- Risks of the increased systemic corporate capture fueled by the UNFSS and its follow-up process (2022)
- Exposing corporate capture of the UN Food Systems Summit through multistakeholderism (2021)
Looking for more information?
Visit foodsystems4people.org
In 2023, the largest global food justice movements, small-scale food producer organizations, and Indigenous Peoples, representing millions across the world, released a statement denouncing the United Nations’ controversial approach to tackling hunger and malnutrition.
In a joint stamens and press conference, representatives from the People’s Autonomous Response to the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) highlighted the urgent need for a coordinated, rights-based actions to overcome the global hunger, climate and health crises.
“The UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) has not only overlooked our rights and the structural causes of the crises,” says Saúl Vicente from the International Indian Treaty Council, “…The intention of the Summit organizers is to sell us the corporate and industrial project as transformation.”
The movements and organizations called for an urgent shift away from corporate-driven industrial models and towards biodiverse, agroecological, community-led food systems that prioritize the public interest.
“The rights of peoples to access and control land and productive resources must be guaranteed, and agroecological production models and peasant seeds promoted.” Ibrahima Coulibaly, President of the Network of West African Farmers and Agricultural Producers’ Organizations (ROPPA)
“Over the past two decades, people from all over the world have presented concrete, effective strategies for addressing the climate and food crises based on respect for social and racial diversity, justice, and human and collective rights. Foremost among these are food sovereignty, agroecology, revitalisation of biodiversity, territorial markets and a solidarity-based economy,” said Shalmali Guttal, from Focus on the Global South. “The evidence is overwhelming – the solutions devised by small-scale food producers and Indigenous Peoples not only feed the world but also advance gender, social, economic justice, youth empowerment, workers’ rights and real resilience to crises. Why are policy makers not listening to them and providing them with adequate support?”
- Read the statement
- Read the press release in English, French, Spanish and German.
- Watch the webinars Who has the power?
In October 2019, the Secretary-General of the United Nations announced he would host a Food Systems Summit in 2021 with the aims of maximizing the benefits of a food systems approach across the entire 2030 Agenda, meeting the challenges of climate change, making food systems inclusive, and supporting sustainable peace.
But the Summit was under fire from hundreds of small food producers, NGOs and civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations – including the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) – who believe the Summit is ignoring human rights and sidelining the small-scale producers who produce 70-80 per cent of the world’s food, prioritizing instead the interests of corporations.
In March 2020, the CSIPM, together with more than 400 organizations, sent a letter to the Secretary-General to share their key concerns, flagging the undue corporate influence, a missing human rights grounding, and a lack of transparency in the process. The letter remains unanswered to this day.
In October 2020, the CSIPM and other organizations of those most affected by hunger, malnutrition and ecological destruction launched an open invitation to join forces to challenge the Summit which will take place on 23 September 2021. This new platform of organisations and individuals takes the name of Autonomous Peoples’ Response to the UN Food Systems Summit.
Finally, in May 2021, those who responded to the open invitation decided to organize a counter event in parallel to the UN Food Systems Pre-Summit. The event, entitled Counter-Mobilization to Transform Corporate Food Systems, took place in a hybrid format between 25 and 28 July.
Some 9,000 people attended the event. This was hailed as great success, as the event drew together a wide variety of attendees and was able to catalyze and amplify a counter-narrative to the official proceedings. With critical articles and pieces published in major media outlets such as the BBC, Al Jazeera, and Italian state TV Rai, and several thousands of #FoodSystems4People posts on social media seen by potentially 10 million users.
The counter-mobilizations continued in September 2021 and beyond.
It is time to connect our struggles and fight together for a better world based on mutual respect, social justice, equity, solidarity and harmony with our Mother Earth.
Rise up against corporate food systems!
This declaration is also available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Euskera, Arabic, Greek and Bangla
Read and sign the political declaration of the People’s Autonomous Response to the UN Food Systems Summit!
Resources
- Read and sign our political declaration (September 2021)
- Read our problem analysis on What is wrong about the UN Food Systems Summit
- Read the briefing for UN Member States outlining our main concerns
- Read or call-to-action for the Counter-Mobilizations to Tranform Corporate Food Systems
- More information about CSM’s position vis-à-vis the UN Food Systems Summit.
Contact
Read and sign the declaration
In this 25th year anniversary of food sovereignty, we reaffirm our unity and commitment to push for radically transformative strategies which recognize peoples’ needs, accord dignity, respect nature, put people above profits, resist corporate capture, and work collectively towards a fair and decent food system for all!
Updates and Events
25/07/23
A broad range of African POs and CSOs have denounced the corporate capture of their food systems and are advocating for their real solutions to food crises. This policy brief is rooted in a process that began before the 2021 UNFSS summit and has produced two widely shared statements: (1) The African PO/CSO response to the UNFSS, and (2) The African popular consultation declaration. These POs and ...
