The global food system produces enough food for everyone (about 3,000 calories per person per day in 2023, according to FAO data), yet some 645 million people faced hunger in 2025. About a third of all food is lost or wasted (1.3 billion tonnes a year, according to a 2011 FAO estimate), and a handful of multinationals control much of the market. What do you need to know about the global food system?
1. There is enough food for everyone, but not everyone eats.
Every day enough food is produced for everyone to lead a healthy life. In fact, according to the FAO, there were 2,800 calories available per person per day in 2002 (about 3,000 in 2023), yet millions of people go hungry every day even though enough food is produced.
2. A third of all food is lost or wasted.
According to a 2011 FAO study, about one third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, roughly 1.3 billion tonnes a year. More recent estimates put food losses between harvest and retail at about 13% of the food produced (FAO) and food waste at 19% of the food available to consumers, some 1.05 billion tonnes in 2022 (UNEP, 2024). Food is wasted mainly along food supply chains, from initial agricultural production to final household consumption.
In middle- and high-income countries, food is largely wasted by consumers, who throw it away even when it is still fit for human consumption. In low-income countries, by contrast, food loss occurs mainly during the early and middle stages of the food supply chain.
3. A few multinationals control the food market.
In many of the markets that make up the global food system, four companies control more than half of the market. According to ETC Group (2013), Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, Syngenta and Vilmorin controlled 58.2% of the seed market. Other markets controlled by oligopolies of four companies were agrochemicals (61.9%) and animal pharmaceuticals (53.4%), while the four largest fertilizer companies held 24.3% of their market. Since then, ChemChina has acquired Syngenta (2017), Bayer has bought Monsanto (2018), and Dow and DuPont have merged and spun off their agriculture business as Corteva (2019).
4. Farm subsidies in rich countries hold back agricultural development in poor countries.
OECD countries provided some US$348 billion a year in support to agriculture in 2022–24; in Switzerland, support to producers made up 49% of gross farm receipts, more than three times the OECD average (OECD, 2025).
Subsidies create artificially low prices that are extremely harmful to local producers in poor countries, who are unable to compete with such low prices. As a result, poor countries become dependent on production from rich countries, and the development of agriculture in these countries is held back. More on subsidies.
Subsidies create artificially low prices that are extremely harmful to local producers in poor countries, who are unable to compete with such low prices. As a result, poor countries become dependent on production from rich countries, and the development of agriculture in these countries is held back. More on subsidies.
5. Impact on the environment.
Agricultural expansion drives almost 90% of global deforestation (FAO, 2021), and agriculture is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions other than CO2. It is also responsible for soil erosion, aquifer depletion, loss of genetic diversity, and the salinization and waterlogging of heavily irrigated soils.
6. Food prices are extremely volatile.
Food prices are extremely volatile because of speculation in the markets. This volatility especially affects the most vulnerable groups: subsistence family farmers and low-income urban and rural populations. Rising prices are one of the main factors behind the growing number of people who suffer from hunger.
7. Demand for food will rise sharply in the coming years.
According to an FAO report (2017), with the world population expected to reach almost 10 billion by 2050, farmers will have to meet a demand for agricultural products some 50% higher than in 2013. This will have to be achieved amid rising energy prices and climate change, which will make food harder and more expensive to produce.
8. About 645 million people go hungry.
Of these, almost all live in developing countries; in 2011–13, the FAO counted only about 16 million in developed countries. This is due to a combination of factors that create and sustain hunger around the world. Some of them are rising fuel prices, poor harvests caused by the weather, low food reserves, growing food demand in developing countries, world population growth, the increasing use of land to produce biofuels and food price manipulation, among others.
Other sources:
https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/suistainability/pdf/Global_Food_Losses_and_Food_Waste.pdf
https://ccafs.cgiar.org/bigfacts2014/#theme=food-emissions
https://www.etcgroup.org/sites/www.etcgroup.org/files/CartelBeforeHorse11Sep2013.pdf
https://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/foodpricesindex/en/
Contents
The FAO reported in 2026 that approximately 645 million people around the world faced hunger in 2025.
Last updated: September 26, 2026
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