Latest Resources
15 May 2012
Hazardous Harvest: Genetically Modified Crops in South Africa: 2008-2012
In this publication, we provide a comprehensive update of the situation with GMOs in SA. Since our last South African update on genetically modified crops, and the transnational companies that control the technology published in 2008, GMOs have become even more entrenched in the country’s agricultural landscape. Over three-quarters of South Africa’s maize is now […]
25 March 2012
GM Labeling in South Africa: The Law Demystified
During March 2012, the ACB revealed that four household food products tested positive for genetically modified organisms. None of these products have been labeled in accordance with the requirements of applicable South African laws. There appears to be a great deal of confusion about what the laws provide. In this briefing, we outline what the […]
3 October 2011
Corporate concentration and control in the grains and oilseed value chain in South Africa: A case...
The Bunge/Senwes joint venture signals the first significant investment by Bunge in Africa. Bunge is one of the world’s largest and most influential corporations and is amongst a handful of companies dominating global trade in agricultural commodities. Senwes holds a dominant position in the South African market for the storage and handling of grain crops. […]
3 September 2011
GM Banana Slips in South Africa: Key Issues and Concerns
In this briefing we deal with the application by the University of Pretoria for permission to conduct the first ever field trials in South Africa involving GM bananas. The rationale for the genetic modification is to combat Fusarium wilt, caused by a soil born fungi Fusarium oxysporum f.sp cubense (Foc). The idea is to genetically […]
13 May 2011
HEAVY HANDS – Monsanto’s control in South Africa
This paper seeks to update an earlier report, published by the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) in 2004, titled ‘A profile of Monsanto in South Africa’. In that paper we found that Monsanto dominated the GM crop market in South Africa and was using its considerable power to influence agricultural markets and debates in the […]
24 March 2011
South Africa’s Agrofuel’s Industry: A non-starter?
This paper provides a brief overview of the biofuels industry in the context of the South African government’s 2008 policy. Our key finding is that the large-scale biofuels industry has stagnated almost to the point of non-existence. There is, however, a growing impetus to address the shortcomings in government policy that has held the industry […]
9 March 2011
How US sorghum seed distributions undermine the FAO Plant Treaty’s Multilateral System
New data from ICRISAT and the US Department of Agriculture and a comparison of genebank records indicates that half of more of ICRISAT’s sorghum genebank collection is also being distributed outside of the Multilateral System. This yawning gap creates an economic incentive for the Multilateral System and its benefit-sharing requirements to be avoided. USDA’s sorghum […]
8 March 2011
Overview of GMO Regulatory Regime in South Africa
Following the promulgation of the Genetically Modified Organisms Act in 1997, numerous Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) applications have been approved in SA. As of 2007, GMOs commercially available in South Africa included insect resistant maize and cotton, herbicide tolerant cotton, maize and soybean, and herbicide tolerant and insect resistant cotton and maize, making up 62% […]
19 February 2011
Agrochemical giant DuPont to sell Bolivian sorghum gene
In 2012 multinational giant DuPont plans to begin selling sorghum varieties containing a valuable gene taken from a sudan grass that was collected in 2006 in Bolivia. The gene, branded as ‘Inzen A II’, makes sorghum plants tolerant to herbicides made by DuPont and other companies, and was acquired under exclusive license from Kansas State […]
16 February 2011
African Millet Under Threat
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has focused several recent reports on new international commercial interest and patent claims on the African native crop sorghum. This includes the issues raised by the proposed widespread use of sorghum for the production of agrofuels. This report extends ACB’s examination of new international commercial interest in African native […]