Latest Resources

2 December 2022
Civil society and farmer network organisations call on the South African Department of Agricultur...
This is the main thrust of the open letter we sent to Minister Thoko Didiza today, with Biowatch, Environmental Monitoring Group, the Association for Rural Advancement, and Tshintsha Amakhaya. So far 50 organisations have endorsed the letter. This letter is intended to push the Department to engage systematically and meaningfully with CSOs, including household and […]

27 August 2021
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. […]

30 June 2020
Civil society statement on the South African Supplementary Budget
Implications for food security and land reform within a context of multiple crises See below for a link to the recording of an online media briefing. The Minister of Finance has announced an austerity budget at a time when the fissures of unresolved historical inequality, poverty and suffering are made so much sharper. The lives […]

10 June 2020
ACB raises concerns on GM Covid-19 vaccine trials for SA, calls for transparency & public he...
Clique aqui para a versão portuguesa Por favor, haga clic aquí para el español The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has made a submission to the Registrar of GMOs in South Africa, following an application made by Professor Shabir Ahmed Madhi, from the Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit (RMPRU), Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, […]

23 August 2017
OPEN LETTER TO AFRICAN BIOSAFETY REGULATORS
OPEN LETTER TO AFRICAN BIOSAFETY REGULATORS Do not allow Africans to be used as guinea pigs for untested high-risk new GM technology The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa calls for an immediate ban on the importation into South Africa of Monsanto’s high-risk second-generation gene-silencing genetically modified (GM) maize destined for human consumption. AFSA rejects […]

9 September 2013
Civil Society Calls for PUBLIC Parliamentary Hearings on Genetically Modified Food
On the 6th of August 2012, the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB), supported by 18 health professionals, more than 7000 individuals, 22 organisations and the Honourable Cheryllyn Dudley of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), submitted a petition to the National Assembly. The petition called for a review of the government decision to allow the […]

20 July 2013
Open letter to the National Chamber of Milling on GMO labelling and the development of a GM-Free ...
In July 2012 the National Chamber of Milling (NCM) posted a position on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on its website, in which it supports the principle of consumer choice and pledges to “encourage identity preservation within the grain supply chain to enable clear labelling of our product to the consumer market”. However, the biotech industry […]

19 March 2013
Letters to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for urgent interventions: Dow’s 2,4 D + gl...
Request for intervention to uphold the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health GM crops engineered to be resistant to three herbicides: 2,4-D, glufosinate-ammonium and glyphosate. Previous letters sent to: Mr. Anand Grover Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest […]

15 November 2012
Comments on: Draft amendments to regulations to the Consumer Protection Act related to labelling ...
Comments on: Draft amendments to regulations to the Consumer Protection Act related to labelling of GMOs 8 November 2012. Read more.

9 October 2012
Open Letter to AGRI SA: Response to its unsubstantiated claims about the benefits of GM maize in SA
Snippet from the letter below. The ACB read with interest an article published in the Business Day (2nd October, ‘AgriSA backs gene-modified maize’), in which you argue that the curtailment of cultivating GM maize in South Africa would lead to lower yields, higher maize prices, and an increase in the use of agricultural pesticides. You […]