Latest Resources
8 March 2024
Ultra-processed food in Africa
Implications for just agroecological transitions of food and agriculture systems A series by the African Centre for Biodiversity Click here for factsheets 6-10. (Cliquez ici pour lire en français.) In this series focusing on ultra-processed food (UPF) on the African continent, we explore the impacts of shifting dietary patterns, with increasing reliance on low-cost, ultra-processed […]
5 February 2024
Game-changer for regulation of genome editing and new tech as SA’s Ag Minister overrules Industry...
PRESS RELEASE 5 February 2024 The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), welcomes the final decision taken by the South African Minister of Agriculture Ms Thoko Didiza, in terms of section 19 of the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Act of 1997, to uphold the October 2021 decision of the Executive Council (EC) that the risk assessment […]
30 January 2024
No to GM wheat!
Food sovereignty alliance from Latin America, Africa, and Asia approaches seven UN Special Rapporteurs for urgent intervention to block cultivation and trade of GM wheat HB4 To date over 100 organisations endorse this submission. Please note the deadline for endorsements is Wednesday 15 February. PRESS RELEASE 30 January 2024 On 26 January 2024, a submission […]
7 December 2023
Call on South Africa to deregister agrotoxin 2,4-D
Dear friends and colleagues, The ACB, supported by 18 organisations/networks in South Africa, has made a substantive submission to the Registrar of the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Seeds and Remedies Act 36 of 1947 (commonly referred to as Act 36), to institute a review in terms of section 4 of the Act 36, into the continued […]
5 December 2023
Draft Plant Breeders’ Rights and Plant Improvement Act Regulations
Further comments submitted by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). In November, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) hosted stakeholder consultations in Pretoria and Cape Town on the regulations of the Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) and Plant Improvement (PI) Acts. The ACB was quick to accept the invitation to attend both […]
5 December 2023
UPOV-aligned PVP laws impinge on farmer seed systems
We stand united in our commitment to addressing the pervasive push for the adoption of plant variety protection (PVP) laws in Africa, aligned with the Eurocentric International Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 model. We continue to declare our unwavering dedication to championing a just and sustainable agricultural future for the […]
26 September 2023
Ambitious action to phase out world’s most dangerous pesticides urged
UPDATE: Anna Shevel, network coordinator for Unpoison SA, a civil society network united behind effecting legislative reform of agrichemical policy, recently joined Pippa Hudson on CapeTalk to unpack the call on governments, policymakers and other stakeholders attending the Fifth International Conference on Chemical Management to urgently phase out highly hazardous pesticides. Explore some of ACB’s […]
19 September 2023
Financialisation, dematerialisation, digitalisation & distancing of Africa’s agriculture
What future for small-scale farmers and their food and seed systems? Following on from part one, The rise of digital agriculture and dispossession in Africa: implications for smallholder farmers, part two looks at how private-sector interests and motives are driving the financialisation of Africa’s food and farming systems. Financialisation is the focus on generation of […]
30 August 2023
The rise of digital agriculture and dispossession in Africa: implications for smallholder farmers
In part one in a series of two, consisting of a briefing paper and linked fact sheet, we explore the current status of digital agriculture in Africa and the potential implications its deployment has for smallholder farmers on the continent. We outline three primary areas of concern related to potential inequitable benefits and influence accrued from its deployment; […]
28 August 2023
Seed harmonisation in Eastern and Southern Africa
Failures, corporate occupation, and the rise of digitalised seed trade: dire implications for farmer managed seed and food systems in Africa Regional seed policy harmonisation processes on seed and plant variety protection (PVP) legislation have been underway for the past 15 years on the African continent. These have taken place under the auspices of various […]