Global food security and the human right to food remain seriously threatened by the concentration of land ownership and corporate domination of food systems, according to a new report launched last week. The “Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2014” was officially presented at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome with the participation of the new UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Food, Dr. Hilal Elver. It marks the ten-year anniversary of the Right to Food Guidelines, adopted by the FAO in 2004. "As we celebrate the progress made over the past decade, it is important to keep in mind that we will have to work even harder to realise the right to food in order that hunger and malnutrition no longer afflict humanity", Dr. Elver said. The report highlights the growing influence of companies in global food and nutrition governance as a major challenge: Multinational food corporations influence what ends up on peoples’ plates, leading to a higher consumption of processed foods. These unhealthy diets contribute to obesity and malnutrition in both industrialised and developing countries. At the same time, agribusiness and financial investors are taking control of natural resources. In Mali, for example, one million hectares of land have been appropriated in recent years, depriving small-scale food producers of their livelihoods. The expansion of mining in Sweden and the consequences for small-scale food producers - a topic also covered by the report - shows that land grabbing is a global phenomenon. The Watch analyses the “gains, concerns and struggles” in the years since the Guidelines on the Right to Food were approved and calls on governments to actively address the inequities in food systems. According to the authors, democratic institutions and mechanisms are needed that give those most affected by hunger a say in policy-making. The Right to Food and Nutrition Watch is published each year by a network of organisations, including FIAN International and the German development service Bread for the World.