Latest GM & Biosafety Resources

Press release The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), with great relief, welcomes the decision of 11 Judges of the Constitutional Court of South Africa (SA), who, on 4 November 2025, dismissed with costs, an application for leave to appeal filed in November 2024, by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; the Director-General, Department of […]

From 30 September to 1 October 2025, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), together with the Movement for Ecological Learning and Community Action (MELCA) Ethiopia, co-hosted a two-day workshop on biosafety concerns regarding artificial intelligence and genetic engineering in agriculture and food systems. The workshop, held in Addis Ababa, was well attended by government officials, […]

Press Release Ouagadougou, August 22, 2025 Target Malaria is a research consortium led by Imperial College London, which receives core funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to apparently eradicate malaria in Africa. The first phase of its project in Burkina Faso has been a dismal failure, involving the release of GM mosquitoes. We […]

Will stringent regulation safeguard Africa’s food systems? Across Africa, powerful corporate, donor, and government interests are driving a rapid push to deregulate genome editing in agriculture. Countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso have adopted product-based guidelines that exempt many genome-edited crops from GMO regulation if no foreign DNA is present in […]

The ACB has lodged an objection to an application for field trials in South Africa of genetically modified (GM) canola; namely, event DP73496, which confers tolerance to glyphosate-based herbicides. Since there are 154 known species of Brassicaceae in South Africa that can potentially cross-fertilise with canola, genetic contamination is a significant risk. This is aided […]

In this web post, we trace the push to introduce genetically modified (GM) wheat into South Africa and Africa, beginning with Monsanto’s 2004 application to import Roundup Ready wheat into SA, through to the current ongoing opposition led by the ACB. After Monsanto’s initial application was rejected, there was a long period before further applications […]

In December, the ACB, alongside a coalition of organisations, academics, and unions, submitted a letter of demand to the Minister of Agriculture, Mr John Steenhuisen. This urgent appeal calls for the immediate ban of Terbufos — a highly hazardous pesticide implicated in the tragic deaths of six children in Naledi, Soweto, last year. To amplify […]

Minister Steenhuisen, when can we expect the Registrar to respond? Today marks a year since we called for a review of the registration of 2,4-D in South Africa, in a letter to the Registrar: Act No. 36 of 1947, Mr Jonathan Mudzunga. With no substantive response forthcoming, despite substantiation in a further submission, and persistent […]

17 June 2025 UPDATE: Following the South African People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins (SAPToA), which was held in March this year, the three jurors, Judge Navi Pillay, Commissioner Philile Ntuli, and Dr Sophia Kisting-Cairncross, made a presentation on highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) and other agrotoxins to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture on 20 May. Watch the […]

17 June 2025 UPDATE: Thank you to all who signed our petition, supporting our call to hold the South African government and chemical industry accountable for the devastating effects of toxic pesticides on our society. Following the South African People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins (SAPToA), which was held in March this year, the three jurors, Judge […]

Se anula la aprobación para la comercialización del maíz modificado genéticamente tolerante a la sequía Haga clic aquí para leer en inglés. Haga clic aquí para leer en francés. Johannesburgo, 22 de octubre de 2024 Después de nueve largos años de arduos litigios por parte del Centro Africano para la Biodiversidad (ACB), un tribunal compuesto […]

Annulation de l’autorisation commerciale d’un maïs génétiquement modifié tolérant à la sécheresse Cliquez ici pour lire en anglais. Cliquez ici pour lire en espagnol. Johannesburg, le 22 octobre 2024 Après neuf ans de procédure judiciaire ardue menée par le Centre africain pour la biodiversité (ACB), un collège complet composé de cinq juges de la Cour […]