Latest Resources
21 July 2025
South African Compendium on pesticides is a comprehensive database listing over 100 papers produc...
A user-friendly resource for researchers, advocates, and civil society ACB is proud to release a collation of the past two decades of research done on pesticide use in South Africa, in the form of a searchable (and downloadable) database, below. For the first time, this extensive body of scientific evidence of the harm caused by […]
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 […]
26 May 2023
Assessment of support for agroecology in South Africa’s policy landscape
by Dr Stephen Greenberg (Veuillez cliquer ici pour le français) In March 2023, civil society organisations and farmers met with the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to share views on agroecology and to promote a call from 58 organisations for a national agroecology strategy. In support of the process, the ACB […]
30 April 2022
Is the end of the State of Disaster the beginning of mandatory vaccines in South Africa?
The endless extensions to the State of Disaster, initially declared two years ago, has provoked criticism from medical experts and calls for its end from public-interest groups and an increasingly fed-up citizenry. Recently, the government announced that the restrictions were finally to be lifted. However, during this time, a draft amendment to the National Health […]
14 March 2017
ACB Submission to Competition Commission on Bayer Monsanto merger
This submission is made by the ABC because of serious public interest concerns about the proposed merger between Bayer and Monsanto. This merger is occurring in the context of other related mergers in agricultural input supply, between ChemChina-Syngenta and Dow-Du Pont. We urge the Commission to consider the wider implications of these mergers beyond a […]
17 November 2016
New Lobby document from ACB: transitioning out of GM maize in SA
This four-page document summarises the recent report published by the African Centre for Biodiversity: Transitioning out of GM maize: to agroecology for sustainable, socially just and nutritional food systems, that argues that we need to urgently shift away from the mono-focus on a maize towards embracing a diversity of crops – particularly indigenous African summer […]
19 March 2013
Letter to the UN secretariat on 2,4D
Request for intervention on GMOs likely to have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity; GM soybean tolerant to 2,4-D, glufosinate and glyphosate (DAS-44406-6).
26 September 2012
Letter to Minister of Health requesting investigation into GM maize and associated pesticides as ...
Elsewhere in the world this crop is grown primarily for the global livestock sector. However, in South Africa some 77% of our maize production is genetically modified and provides the nation with their daily intake of carbohydrates. The debate on the long term health impacts of GM foods has raged around the globe for almost […]
2 March 2011
Title Submission to the Dept of Justice on the Promotion of Access to Information Amendment Bill-...
Following the promulgation of the Genetically Modified Organisms Act in 1997, numerous GMOs have been approved in South Africa. The 1997 GMO Act was amended in 2006, and the new regulations took effect on the 26th of February 2010. This submission sets out details of our problems in accessing information from government with regard to […]
2 March 2011
ACB submission to the Secretariat of the Biosafety Protocol – discussions on socio-economic...
28 May 2011 The Secretariat of the Biosafety Protocol is engaging in discussions on socio-economic provisions related to decision-making and GMOs (Article 26). The ACB has submitted several studies from South Africa to enrich this discussion and has applied to participate in online discussions. These documents highlight South African experiences regarding the rejection of GM […]