Latest Resources
5 December 2022
The Africa we want?
A NEO-IMPERIALIST FOOD REGIME REINFORCED BY AGENDA 2063, THE UNFCCC, AND THE CBD Closely linked to this work, is a five part series of interconnected briefing papers which reflect on the inability of both the UNFCCC and the CBD, to address collapsing socio-ecological systems and rather, its complicity in re-embedding geopolitical inequality, debt, and underdevelopment […]
27 November 2020
Introducing ACB’s multiple shocks in Africa series: ecological crisis, capitalist nature & d...
Veuillez cliquer ici pour le français Por favor clique aqui para Português Por favor, haga clic aquí para el español Tafadhali bonyeza hapa kwa Kiswahili The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent crises, as a result of lockdowns, have exposed the fractures of human societies’ relationship with nature. In a world dominated by capitalist globalisation, these crises […]
9 October 2020
Struggle for recognition of traditional land, territories and seed in Brazil
(Por favor, clique aqui para Português) In recent weeks, a wave of solidarity from many parts of Brazil and from several countries around the world has reached southern Minas Gerais, in support of the resistance of the 450 farming families, who have organised and lived at camp “Quilombo Campo Grande” over the past 22 years. […]
11 March 2019
PRESS RELEASE: East African Farmer & Civil Society Organisations Criticise EAC Seed Bill – d...
Arusha, Tanzania, 11th March 2019 We, East African farmer and civil society organisations, met in Arusha on 5th – 6th March 2019, to deliberate on the East African Community (EAC) Seed and Plant Varieties Bill 2018 and its implications for smallholder farmers and their seed systems. The rationale given for the Bill is that this […]
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 […]
28 July 2016
ACB Preliminary comments on Draft Regulations Implementing the Arusha Protocol for the Protection...
Draft Regulations for the implementation of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation’s (ARIPO’s) Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Arusha Protocol), were considered for adoption in June 2016. The proposed regulations included provisions designed to intimidate and force seed processors, seed suppliers, government certification officers and even farmers’ organisations to police and […]
28 July 2016
ACB comments on revised Draft Regulations (Draft 2) for Implementing the Arusha Protocol for the ...
The revised regulations for the implementation of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation’s (ARIPO’s) Arusha Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants continues to perpetuate the impingement of national sovereignty, fails to safeguard farmers’ rights and farmer seed systems and to provide safeguards against biopiracy. These comments, submitted to ARIPO, raise concerns and […]