Latest Resources
6 October 2014
Running to Stand Still: Small-Scale Farmers and the Green Revolution in Malawi
According to ACB lead researcher, Dr Stephen Greenberg, “small-scale farmers are using shockingly high levels of synthetic fertilisers at great financial costs to themselves and the public purse. Rising soil infertility is a feature of farming systems reliant on synthetic fertiliser. We found that farmers are increasingly adopting hybrid maize seed, encouraged by government subsidies […]
15 September 2014
The political economy of Africa’s burgeoning chemical fertiliser rush
The African Centre for Biosafety has today released an in-depth report, The Political Economy of Africa’s burgeoning chemical fertiliser rush, which looks at the role of fertiliser in the Green Revolution push in Africa, some of the key present and future fertiliser trends on the continent and the major players involved in this. The value […]
3 July 2013
Modernising African Agriculture: Who benefits? Civil Society statement on the G8, AGRA and the Af...
African agriculture is in need of support and investment. Many initiatives are flowing from the North, including the G8’s ‘New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa’ and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). These initiatives are framed in terms of the African Union’s Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). This […]
3 June 2013
G8 “Hunger Summit” initiative rejected by African civil society – Corporate tak...
At the heart of the leading initiatives to ‘modernise’ African agriculture is a drive to open markets and create space for multinationals to secure profits. Green revolution technologies – and the legal and institutional changes being introduced to support them – will benefit a few at the expense of the majority. As world leaders gather […]
2 April 2013
NEW SEED LEGISLATION SPELLS DISASTER FOR SMALL FARMERS IN AFRICA
Civil society organisations from the SADC region, and around the world have condemned the SADC draft Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (Plant Breeders’ Rights) as spelling disaster for small farmers and food security in the region. These groups, representing millions of farmers in Africa and around the world have submitted their […]
4 December 2012
ACB Comments on National Strategy on Agroecology
The Department of Agriculture is in the process of developing a Strategy for Agroecology for South Africa, with the aim of achieving “an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable agro-ecology sector that contributes towards poverty alleviation, job creation, food security, economic development, climate change mitigation and adaptation”. It is not clear where the drive for this […]
30 November 2012
Letter to the UK Government on DFID Green Revolution funding
Letter from Food & Water Watch, GAIA Foundation and ACB to UK government demanding answers over DFID funding of Green Revolution projects in Africa. Read more.
30 November 2012
African farm analysts demand answers from UK over DfID funding Is the UK setting up a poverty tra...
The Africa Centre for Biosafety (ACB), supported by Food & Water Europe and the Gaia Foundation, today wrote to UK Ministers for International Development, Business and Environment asking for evidence for the basis of UK overseas aid policy. The ACB recently published a searing critique of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (known […]
27 November 2012
Harmonisation of Africa’s seed laws: death knell for African seed systems
The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has released its new report titled, ‘Harmonisation of Africa’s seed laws: a recipe for disaster- Players, motives and dynamics. The report shows how African governments are being co-opted into harmonising seed laws relating to border control measures, phytosanitary control, variety release systems, certification standards and intellectual property rights, to […]
25 September 2012
Statement on AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa)
At a farmers rights meeting held in Uganda in September 2012, where a statement was drawn up and signed by many concerned parties. Read the statement here. Signatures: