Latest Resources
29 May 2019
ACB’s Commentary on An Africa-Europe Agenda for Rural Transformation: Report by the Task Force Ru...
The European Union (EU) is in the process of defining a new set of priorities in the African agricultural and food sectors, through the proposed implementation of the EU-Africa Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs. Their Task Force for Rural Africa published a report with draft recommendations, which is oriented towards promoting the capitalist transformation […]
30 April 2019
Oxitec’s failed GM mosquito releases worldwide: Forewarnings for Africa and the Target Malaria pr...
A decade ago, genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes were first released globally, in the Cayman Islands, by UK-based company Oxitec. Further releases followed in Malaysia, Panama and Brazil. In a public relations whitewash, Oxitec has repeatedly claimed that the experiments successfully wiped out nearly 90% of the Aedes aegypti mosquito population, which is one of the […]
28 May 2018
Biosafety Indaba eSwatini: Unclear motives following approval to cultivate Bt cotton, despite dis...
The news that the Swaziland Environmental Authority (SEA) had authorised the importation and commercial release of Bt cotton seeds came as a huge shock to the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). It meant that ACB had to reconsider its earlier acceptance of an invitation by SEA to attend a National Biosafety Indaba on 22 May […]
23 February 2018
Face to Face: African CSOs confront ARIPO, SADC over Draconian Harmonised Seed Laws
The ACB has the pleasure of sharing with you a short 5-minute video of the Southern African seed law and seed sovereignty dialogue, Face to Face: African CSOs confront ARIPO, SADC over Draconian Harmonised Seed Laws, co-hosted by the ACB in partnership with PELUM-Zimbabwe, which took place in Harare, Zimbabwe, 28-30th June 2017. Please watch […]
15 January 2018
Status report on the SADC, COMESA and EAC harmonised seed trade regulations: Where does this leav...
The Status Report on the SADC, COMESA and EAC harmonised seed trade regulations: Where does this leave the regions’ smallholder farmers? researched and written by Linzi Lewis and Sabrina Masinjila of the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), provides a brief background and status update on efforts by regional economic communities to harmonise seed trade and […]
15 December 2017
Harmonised corporate seed laws in Africa: Where does this leave smallholder farmers?
The expansion of the corporate seed market, embedded in the green revolution agenda in sub-Saharan Africa is progressing very fast. This expansion is going hand in hand with regional policies and regulations – in a process also known as seed harmonisation – that will enable facilitate trade across national borders. This has been the case […]
27 September 2017
Seed sovereignty for Peasant Farmers in Malawi blocked by emerging national seed policy
The government of Malawi is poised to adopt a draconian National Seed Policy that blocks peasant farmers’ opportunities to secure and strengthen farmer-managed seed systems (FMSS), and which would undermine farmers’ rights and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to which Malawi is a Party. An ad hoc stakeholder policy […]
18 July 2017
GM Cotton push in Swaziland: Next target for failed Bt cotton
This paper examines the application of the Bt cotton field trials currently underway in Swaziland. This is situated within the broader wave of GM application and trials across the continent, along with the weakening of national biosafety regulations, as part of the GM push across Africa. This paper is based on research on the Swaziland […]
25 April 2017
Objection to commercial release of MON87460 X NK603 X MON89034 (triple stacked involving drought ...
In this objection, ACB raises numerous concerns with the application by Monsanto for the commercial release of the triple stacked event. Drought tolerance is a highly complex genetic trait that cannot be addressed by single gene insertions, as shown by the lack of data backing up the applicant’s claim that this GM variety shows “improvements […]
12 May 2015
Grabbing Africa’s seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation back agribusiness seed takeover
The latest salvo in the battle over Africa’s seed systems has been fired, writes Stephen Greenberg, with the Gates Foundation and USAID playing puppet-masters to Africa’s governments – now meeting in Addis Ababa – as they drive forward corporation-friendly seed regulations that exclude and marginalize the small farmers whose seeds and labour feed the continent. […]