Latest Resources

La biotechnologie de la « boîte noire » – Intégration de l’intelligence artificielle à la b...

S’attaquer aux risques, au battage médiatique et aux inégalités qui sous-tendent la biologie générative Click here for the English version. Haga clic aquí para la versión en español. Le Centre africain pour la biodiversité (ACB), en collaboration avec le Réseau Tiers-monde (TWN) et l’ETC Group, a produit une note d’information opportune avant la 16e réunion […]

La caja negra de la biotecnología – Integración de la inteligencia artificial con la biolog...

Afrontar los riesgos, exageraciones y desigualdades de la biología generativa Click here for the English version. Cliquez ici pour la version française. El Centro Africano para la Biodiversidad (ACB), junto con la Third World Network (TWN) y el ETC Group, han elaborado un oportuno documento informativo de cara a la 16ª reunión de la Conferencia […]

‘Black Box’ Biotechnology – Integration of artificial intelligence with synthetic biology

Addressing the risks, hype, and inequities underpinning generative biology Haga clic aquí para la versión en español. Cliquez ici pour la version française. The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), together with Third World Network (TWN) and ETC Group, have produced a timely briefing paper ahead of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties […]

Cultivating diversity for a just agroecological transition in Africa

The inextricable link between agricultural biodiversity, agroecology, climate change, and biodiversity In this briefing, Cultivating diversity for a just agroecological transition in Africa: the inextricable link between agricultural biodiversity, agroecology, climate change, and biodiversity, we highlight the pivotal role of agricultural biodiversity, in particular, crop diversity and its interrelatedness and dependence on farmer managed seed […]

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 […]

UNSAFE GM WHEAT TO ENTER SOUTH AFRICA’S FOOD SYSTEMS

DISASTER CAPITALISM, BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN DECLINE & INSTRUMENTALISATION OF WHEAT IN AFRICA In August 2022, the South African government approved a GM wheat variety HB4 for importation as food, feed, and for the purposes of industrial food and feed processing, following Nigeria’s approval in July. Since then, Argentina and Brazil have been the only two […]

2,4-D GM MAIZE AND THE REGULATORY ANOMALIES REGARDING GMOs AND ASSOCIATED PESTICIDES

The case for categorising 2,4-D as a highly hazardous pesticide in South Africa In December 2019, three genetically modified (GM maize) varieties developed by Corteva (formally Dow AgroSciences) – genetically engineered to tolerate the toxic and highly hazardous chemical 2,4-D – were approved for commercial cultivation in South Africa, despite many long years of opposition […]

Global Biodiversity Framework stuck in a paradigm of catastrophic growth: what future for Africa?

A series on the GBF by Linzi Lewis and Mariam Mayet As part of a series of briefings by the African Centre for Biodiversity in the lead up to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to be held in December in Montreal 2022, this briefing examines the contradictory nature […]

The financialisation of malaria in Africa: Burkina Faso, rogue capital & GM /gene drive mosq...

(Veuillez cliquer ici pour lire en français) The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) hereby publishes a new research paper, titled, “The Financialisation of malaria: Burkina Faso, Rogue capital & GM/gene drive mosquitoes.” This paper seeks to understand the financialisation of malaria as a vehicle for rogue capital in a context of a weakened state (through […]

Guidelines for the Harmonisation of Seed Regulatory Frameworks in Africa: Call for African social...

The African Union (AU) has embarked on a mission towards harmonising seed regulatory frameworks across the continent, beginning with the establishment of a set of Guidelines on seed law harmonisation. The African Centre for Biodiversity, along with other civil society organisations and farmers’ associations from Africa, have actively engaged in the development of these Guidelines. […]