Latest Resources

19 November 2012

ARIPO’s PVP law undermines Farmers’ Rights & Food Security in Africa

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) has proposed a draft regional harmonized policy and legal framework on Plant Variety Protection (PVP), based on the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Convention of 1991. The draft legal framework, if adopted, will have significant adverse consequences for small-scale farmers that dominate […]

6 November 2012

Submission by ACB and African CSOs to ARIPO on its draft PVP law and policies, November 2012

During October/November 2012, a number of African groups from civil society in Africa supported a submission to ARIPO on its draft policy and legal framework for PVP. In such submission, the groups pointed out that draft legal framework was not written with the interests of sub-Saharan African states in mind, particularly ARIPO member states. This […]

18 June 2010

The Sorghum Gene Grab

A 16-page booklet by Edward Hammond. Read here. View the press release here.

25 November 2009

Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) challenges leaders on climate change

We, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), representing small holders, pastoralists, hunter/gatherers, indigenous peoples, citizens and environmentalists from Africa demand that African leaders do more to protect Africa’s food sovereignty, biodiversity, culture and livelihoods of her people. Read here.

28 July 2007

The Geopolitics of agrofuels

The current ecological crisis has elicited a number of market based ‘solutions’ from the corporate – northern axis and their conduits at various international development agencies. The appropriation of vast swathes of land (often labelled ‘marginal’ by its proponents), especially in the global south, for the production of agro-fuels will undermine food security and aggravate […]