This chapter examines the complex relationship between intellectual property rights (IPRs) and global food distribution, analyzing how patents, plant breeders’ rights, geographical indications, and access and benefit-sharing regimes shape agricultural innovation and access to food. While IPRs incentivize research and technological advancement, they also create barriers to equitable access, particularly for smallholder farmers in developing countries. Using a conceptual framework that links IPR instruments to distributional outcomes—availability, affordability, diversity, and geographic reach—the chapter evaluates their impacts across the upstream (seeds and innovation), midstream (supply chains and licensing), and downstream (consumer markets) levels. The analysis draws on international agreements, such as TRIPS, UPOV, the ITPGRFA, and the Nagoya Protocol, alongside comparative case studies, including wheat varietal protection in India and South Africa, Bt cotton in India and Brazil, traditional knowledge disputes over Rooibos and turmeric, and geographical indications like Parmigiano Reggiano. Findings reveal both enabling and restrictive effects: IPRs can stimulate varietal diversity, technology transfer, and quality assurance, but may also drive market concentration, raise seed prices, and limit farmers’ autonomy. The chapter concludes by outlining policy options to balance innovation incentives with equitable access, emphasizing the need for adaptive governance to promote sustainable agriculture and global food security.