There is a need to distinguish between small-scale, subsistence family-based farming, small to medium scale businesses in the agriculture sector that is the predominant mode in the global south on one hand and; the operations of agribusiness (whether a large local corporation or transnational corporation) found in the agricultural sector of many countries that are typically large in size and capital on the other.
Agribusiness as used in this conference and as we know it in the general global agriculture and food systems discussions in the last 20-30 years, are synonymous to large corporations that are involved in the agri-food sector.
The only common denominator between small-scale, subsistence family-based farming and the agribusiness sector are their being clustered as agriculture private sector since they are neither public nor state enterprises. Everything else is a world of difference.
The world has witnessed a fundamental change in the role and market power of corporations, especially in the agri-food sector, in the past 20-30 years. These include corporations (or agribusiness) engaged in input production, such as seed and fertilizer, and supermarket production and retail chains. For example, 50 out of the largest 100 economic entities are corporations rather than countries. Today, just a handful of multinational agribusiness controls most of the trade in seeds, grains, retailing and processed foods, among others.
