Latest Resources

International day of Peasants’ Struggles 17 April 2022 – UN expert applauds vital rol...

GENEVA (14 April 2022) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, draws attention to the struggles of peasants and others which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the rise of extrajudicial violence against peasants and armed conflicts around the world. On the International Day of Peasants’ Struggles, he […]

End of 2021 wishes from the ACB

As this year comes to a close, we give thanks to all of you, our friends, family, comrades, and to the ancestors that continue to guide and protect us all and this planet. We send thoughts and prayers, to all those that have lost loved ones. Take this time to breathe. To ground. To decompose. […]

African Social movements rise up against the UNFSS and the African Union’s blueprint for corporat...

On 16 September, African social movements came together to discuss the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), which takes place on the 23 September. On this day, the African Union (AU) will be presenting an African “common position”. As social movements in Africa we reject both the UNFSS and the AU’s position, which allegedly […]

The African Union Green Recovery Action Plan: Securing Africa’s ecological future or deepening im...

Por favor clique aqui para Português Veuillez cliquer ici pour lire le texte français In July 2021 the African Union (AU) released a Green Recovery Action Plan for the continent, in the context of COVID-19 and climate change. The basis of the plan is that a “clean and resilient recovery in Africa will lead to […]

SAN Petition to Stop ReconAfrica’s Drilling operations in the Okavango

Indigenous Peoples and Africans are under threat from Recon Africa and Big Oil and Gas Development Permits have been issued to prospect, drill and ultimately extract oil and gas over 8.75 million acres of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia and Botswana extending to the south eastern banks of the Okavango River and Okavango Delta. The […]

End of 2020 wishes from the ACB

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. – Rachel Carson​ Dear ACB Friends and Family, As this unimaginable year […]

ACB’s first newsletter: July 2020

Reflections midway through a tumultuous year Greetings from the ACB! We are happy to share with you our first newsletter. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing flux has led to deep reflection, as we grapple with how to meet unprecedented challenges. And through the stringent lockdown, our agile and mostly young and women-led […]

Stephen Greenberg’s departure from the ACB at the end of June 2020

Sadly, at the end of June, the ACB’s senior researcher Stephen Greenberg is departing from the ACB. In a joint letter by executive director Mariam Mayet and Stephen, they reflect on their journey together. We are writing together, Mariam and Stephen. We have found ourselves walking the same path for a number of years now, […]

Commentary submitted to FAO discussion on the AFCFTA as it relates to food and agriculture

On 2 June, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) submitted commentary on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) as it relates to food and agriculture, to a discussion hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Our concerns centred around three areas: the kind of food systems that in its […]

Trends in extraction of biodiversity and genetic resources in east and southern Africa

Human health and wellbeing at great risk unless biodiversity and genetic resources extraction in Africa is halted “We need more genetic diversity, not less, and we need to vigorously defend genetic diversity as a common good, not something that can be extracted and privately profited from.” The ACB has collaborated with the Regional Network for […]