Latest GM & Biosafety Resources

Resounding no to Monsanto’s ‘bogus’ GM drought tolerant maize: South Africa’s Minister, Appeal Board and Biosafety Authority Reject Monsanto’s GM seeds Johannesburg, South Africa, 4 October 2019 After more than 10 years of battling Monsanto’s ‘bogus’ drought tolerant maize project, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) welcomes the decision by the Minister of Agriculture, Ms. […]

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has today released a new report titled, GM and seed industry eye Africa’s lucrative cowpea seed markets: The political economy of cowpea in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Malawi. The report shows a strong interest by the seed industry in commercialising cowpea seed production and distribution in West Africa, […]

The most persistent myth about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is that they are necessary to feed a growing global population. Highly effective marketing campaigns have drilled it into our heads that GMOs will produce more food on less land in an environmentally friendly manner. The mantra has been repeated so often that it is considered […]

BOLETÍN DE PRENSA Grupo ETC, Centro Africano para la Bioseguridad, FoodMattersZimbabwe y CTDT El Centro Africano para la Bioseguridad (ACB, African Center for Biosafety) manifiesta su alarma ante el hecho de que las autoridades sudafricanas dieron luz verde a la exportación de más de 25 mil toneladas de maíz transgénico hacia Zimbawe. Es la primera […]

The ACB is deeply concerned by the news that the South African GMO authorities have permitted over 25,000 tons of GM maize to be exported to Zimbabwe. This is the first time that South African GM maize grains have been commercially exported to our neighbor north of the Limpopo, and adds to a growing list […]

Since the beginning of 2010, South Africa’s Executive Council responsible for GMO permit approvals has granted export permits for almost 300,000 Metric Tons (MT) of GM maize to be exported to Kenya, Mozambique, and Swaziland collectively, and 35,000 MT of GM soybean to Mozambique.1 Despite South Africa being Africa’s largest producer of maize, and a […]

Despite the best part of a decade of research and field trials, genetically modified sugar cane in South Africa remains a long way from commercial cultivation. Numerous research projects are currently underway at a number of publicly and privately funded research bodies, most of which are concentrating on increased sucrose and biomass content. Late last […]

Stacked GMOs are those containing more than one gene genetically engineered into a crop plant. A controversial stacked GMO, Smarstax containing 8 such genetically engineered genes, was commercially approved in the US, Canada, Japan and South Korea during 2009. Stacked gene varieties are highly complex, posing new biosafety risks that outpace the capacity of regulatory […]

The government of Malawi published its biosafety draft regulations in The Malawi Gazette Supplement on 13 September 2002 (“biosafety law”), at the height of the GM food aid controversy when several countries in Southern Africa imposed restrictions on the acceptance of genetically modified food aid from the United States. Malawi accepted the GM food aid, […]

Evidently influenced by the UNEP-GEF Biosafety Project, the Biosafety Bill has been drafted principally to implement the Biosafety Protocol verbatim, and in so doing, perpetuates some of the weaknesses and deficiencies of the Biosafety Protocol. For instance, the scope of the Biosafety Bill is predicated on the scope of the Biosafety Protocol where the risks […]

The proposed biosafety regulatory regime (hereafter referred to as the “draft biosafety law” or “biosafety law”) of the Republic of Mozambique consists of a draft Decree of Council of Ministers, containing the biosafety regulation and 2 draft technical guidelines for risk evaluation as well as public awareness and participation in biosafety and biotechnology related issues. […]

The South African government has approved a United States funded project that will soon see genetically engineered potatoes sprouting in six secret locations in African soil. Similar potatoes were first grown in the United States but were withdrawn from the market due to consumer resistance. Read more.