Latest Resources
2 August 2024
The decline of FISPs in Malawi – debt, corruption and hunger
What future for smallholder farmers and realising agroecology?
5 March 2020
GM Potato Push in East Africa
Andean and African farmers condemn digital sequence information of potatoes from centres of origin – opens doors for biopiracy (Passer à la version française) (Por favor, haga clic aquí para el español) Cusco, Peru; Johannesburg, South Africa and Kigali, Rwanda – 05 March, 2020 Billionaire potato overlords on both sides of the North Atlantic want […]
8 July 2019
Seed and gene banks play a critical role in conserving and sharing indigenous crop seeds
On a trip to Harare for partnership exploration meetings, the African Centre for Biodiversity visited the Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Institute of Zimbabwe. Gene banks such as these are primarily established to conserve the genetic resources that form the basis for all food production. Seed collections start at the level of community seed banks and […]
26 April 2019
Undermining farmers’ rights and seed systems: Why the EAC seed and plant varieties bill must be d...
In this vlog, African Centre for Biodiversity’s (ACB’s) Sabrina Masinjila, based in Tanzania, speaks about the East African Community Seed and Plant Varieties Bill, 2018 and some of the concerns related to the Bill, as more fully set out in a detailed report and summary. As described in the vlog and our detailed report, Concerns […]
8 April 2019
Production quality controls in farmer seed systems in Africa
This ACB report explores issues relating to farmers’ independent seed development, production and distribution. Drawing from innovative case studies in Brazil, East Africa and elsewhere, suggestions are presented to strengthen farmer quality control practices. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 65% of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods, producing around 80% of food consumed. […]
28 March 2019
Cyclone Idai’s warning – Shift to agroecological systems that work with nature or suffer more dev...
Ranked as one of the worst tropical storms on record to hit Africa, Cyclone Idai made landfall in Beira on Thursday 15 March, before lacerating its way across central Mozambique and then on towards neighbouring Malawi and Zimbabwe. Heavy rains, flooding and storm damage has resulted in devastation on a vast scale. It is estimated […]
7 December 2018
Mark Lynas slammed for exploiting African farmers’ images to promote GMOs
African farmers are demanding that Lynas cease using their images in his GMO promotionals; Lynas’s mischief-making may have triggered Tanzania’s ending of GMO field trials. Report: Claire Robinson, GMWatch and Mariam Mayet, African Centre for Biodiversity. The British pro-GMO activist Mark Lynas has angered African farmers over his mis-use of their images on the internet […]
9 November 2018
Release of risky GM mosquitoes in Burkina Faso highly unethical
Press Release issued by African Centre for Biodiversity, Third World Network and GeneWatch UK Johannesburg, 9 November 2018 Release of risky GM mosquitoes in Burkina Faso highly unethical Risky genetically modified (GM) “male-sterile” mosquitoes are due to be released in the very near future, in Burkina Faso by the Target Malaria research consortium. However, Target […]
10 September 2018
Report from SADC regional farmer speak out on farm input subsidy programmes
Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) and African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) jointly hosted a meeting of farmers and civil society organisations (CSOs) in August 2018 to share views and experiences on farm input subsidy programmes (FISPs) and public sector support for agroecology in the region. About 140 participants from Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, […]
26 June 2018
WEMA’S Bt Maize & Fall Armyworm Africa claims are unscientific and unsubstantiated
Press Release from the African Centre for Biodiversity Johannesburg, June 27 A new research paper BT Maize and the Fall Armyworm in Africa: Debunking industry claims published by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) today, debunks unsubstantiated and unscientific claims made by the biotech machinery, especially the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) Project, that […]