Latest GM & Biosafety Resources

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 […]

 We call on the government to reverse approval of GM wheat into our country Thank you to the 80+ organisations, listed below, who support this ACB submission to the South African Biosafety authorities, the Executive Council (EC): GMO Act, to review and reassess its decision to grant approval for the importation into South Africa of […]

Thank you for supporting our continental campaign to ban glyphosate The deadline for signing on to the petition was Friday, 30 August, 2019. In the next phase of the campaign, many organisations around the continent are sending letters to their governments calling for a ban. In this paper we explain why. Globally, glyphosate and glyphosate-based […]

On Monday 1st July 2019, Target Malaria announced the release of 6400 genetically modified (GM) sterile male mosquitoes in Bana, a village in Burkina Faso – the first GM insects to be released in Africa. This is Phase I – by Phase III, Target Malaria aims to release gene drive mosquitoes. Gene drives are based […]

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is pleased to share with you a three part animation series on GMOs in South Africa. These animations (each around 5 minutes long) are available on our YouTube Channel. The animations speak to the following topics: History of Maize Cultivation and Consumption in South Africa GMOs in South Africa […]

This paper provides an overview of the GM cotton push in in East and Southern Africa, within the context of the global and regional cotton markets.

This paper presents an evidence-based critique of the Report published by the Academy of Science South Africa (ASSAf) titled ‘Regulatory Implications of New Breeding Techniques’ (the Report). Our critique discusses the pro-GM propaganda contained in the Report and contrasts it with a well-established scientific body of concerns surrounding the use of these so-called new breeding […]

These reports introduce the novel techniques already being employed, or in development and their associated biosafety concerns that go against the claim that crops developed with these methods are technological progress in ‘precision’ and ‘safety’. Further described is the utilisation of RNA interference, an epigenetic process that is already being employed in commercialised crops. Despite […]

This paper explores the likely implications of an approved Bayer-Monsanto merger for the South African agricultural system. It outlines the trend of consolidation occurring within the seed and agrochemical industries, provides a background to the merger, criticises the rationale given for the merger by Bayer and Monsanto and outlines concerns should the merger be approved […]

To cope with drought and rising food prices, we need to urgently move away from genetically modified food and towards indigenous African crops. So warns the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). “We need to urgently shift away from maize towards embracing a diversity of crops – particularly indigenous African summer grain crops such as sorghum […]

Coinciding with World Food Day, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in a new report titled “Transitioning out of GM maize: towards nutrition security, climate adaptation, agro-ecology and social justice” makes a compelling case for South Africa to urgently transition out of GM maize production, to systems that are socially just, ecologically sustainable and provide […]

This briefing paper presents the status of genetically modified (GM) soya in South Africa. GM Soyabean seed owned by Monsanto and genetically engineered to withstand the herbicide glyphosate, accounts for 90% of all soya bean production in South Africa. Download the report.