Latest Resources
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 […]
3 February 2020
The GM potato push in Rwanda: With regulatory hurdles in Uganda, is this the industry’s fall back?
Sauter au français To enable the introduction of the first GM crop to be grown in Rwanda – a GM potato variety named ‘Victoria’ – the Rwandan government is fast-tracking the development of a biosafety policy and legal framework. Civil society is deeply concerned about the potential risks of this GM potato variety, which has […]
12 July 2019
Burkinabé Bounty connects the resistance of smallholder farmers on the African continent
Burkinabé Bounty connects the resistance of smallholder farmers on the African continent Sabrina Masinjila, ACB’s Outreach and Advocacy officer based in Tanzania, organised a group of farmers to attend a screening of this film at the Zanzibar International Film Festival. She reflects on the experience. The role of art and music to express cultural and […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
9 February 2018
Press Release: No benefit to imminent release of risky GM mosquitoes in Burkina Faso
Genetically modified (GM) “male-sterile” mosquitoes are due to be released in Burkina Faso this year by the Target Malaria research consortium. However, Target Malaria acknowledges that there are no benefits to the proposed GM mosquito release. The project is set to apply for a permit to make an open release of 10,000 GM Anopheles gambiae […]
8 February 2018
Briefing Paper: GM Mosquitoes in Burkina Faso
In this briefing paper ACB, TWN and GeneWatch UK discuss that genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes were exported from Imperial College in London to Burkina Faso in November 2016. They are currently in “contained use” facilities in Bobo-Dioulasso, and are being used in experiments by a research consortium called Target Malaria. However, these GM mosquitoes are […]