Latest Resources

Kenya Seed Savers Network workshop on CBD and GBF

In September, ACB research and advocacy officer Sabrina Masinjila participated in a multi-stakeholder workshop hosted by the Kenya Seed Savers Network. The aim of the meeting, which took place in Gilgil, was to develop a strategy for grassroots organisations to effectively engage in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and actualise the Global Biodiversity Framework […]

Reviving use of local seeds in African farming

African Centre for Biodiversity’s executive director Mariam Mayet is featured on a SciDev podcast, Africa Science Focus, speaking about the importance of supporting and revitalising of farmer seed systems in Africa. Listen to the podcast here. Header Image Credit: ©2019 CIAT/Georgina Smith on Flickr

Draft Plant Breeders’ Rights and Plant Improvement Act Regulations

Further comments submitted by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). In November, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) hosted stakeholder consultations in Pretoria and Cape Town on the regulations of the Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) and Plant Improvement (PI) Acts. The ACB was quick to accept the invitation to attend both […]

UPOV-aligned PVP laws impinge on farmer seed systems

We stand united in our commitment to addressing the pervasive push for the adoption of plant variety protection (PVP) laws in Africa, aligned with the Eurocentric International Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 model. We continue to declare our unwavering dedication to championing a just and sustainable agricultural future for the […]

Seed harmonisation in Eastern and Southern Africa

Failures, corporate occupation, and the rise of digitalised seed trade: dire implications for farmer managed seed and food systems in Africa Regional seed policy harmonisation processes on seed and plant variety protection (PVP) legislation have been underway for the past 15 years on the African continent. These have taken place under the auspices of various […]

The Last Seed – A film produced by Rosa Luxemburg

‘The Last Seed,’ a documentary film produced by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung in association with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), Biowatch, and Participatory Ecological Land Use, Management (PELUM) Tanzania, features ACB’s ED Mariam Mayet as one of the key voices advocating for seed sovereignty on the African continent. Through the lived experiences of African small-scale […]

REFLEXIONS DES AGRICULTEURS ZIMBABWEENS SUR LA FOIRE AUX SEMENCES PAYSANNES D’AFRIQUE DE L’OUESTS...

La 7e foire annuelle aux semences paysannes d’Afrique de l’Ouest, organisée par le Comité ouest-africain de semences paysannes (COASP), s’est tenue à Zoungbonou, au Bénin, du 9 au 11 mars 2023. Elle a rassemblé 75 exposants de 25 pays, principalement de la communauté ouest-africaine, mais aussi des agriculteurs d’Afrique de l’Est, des représentants du gouvernement […]

REFLECTIONS FROM ZIMBABWEAN FARMERS ON WEST AFRICA PEASANTS’ SEED FAIR

The 7th annual West Africa Peasants’ Seed Fair, hosted by the West African Committee for Farmers’ Seeds (Comité Ouest Africain de Semences Paysannes ­– COASP), was held in Zoungbonou, Benin, from 9-11 March 2023, bringing together 75 exhibitors from 25 countries, predominantly from the West African community but also including farmers from East Africa, government officials and […]

Zimbabwean smallholder farmers show us the way towards alternative food systems

– by Dr Stephen Greenberg These reflections come from attending a farmer exchange in October 2022, hosted by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Zimbabwe, in collaboration with Towards Sustainable Use of Resources Organisation (TSURO) and Community Technology Development Organisation (CTDO). The 35 participants, including farmers, non-government organisations […]

The changing nature of Kenya’s seed sector: lessons from the potato seed industry

In this paper, we discuss the changes taking place in the Kenyan seed sector, with a focus on potato. The changes paint an extremely disturbing picture of how draconian agricultural and seed laws and policies are undermining smallholder farmers and their seed and food systems.  These laws and policies form part of the architecture that […]