Latest Resources

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. […]

25 February 2013

GM Industry Called to Account: ISAAA’s report mischievous and erroneous

The Africa Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has dismissed the findings of the biotechnology industry’s flagship annual report, published by the GM industry funded ‘NGO’, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), as mischievous and erroneous. According to the report, South Africa’s GM crop area increased by a record 26% or 600,000 hectares […]

24 March 2011

GM cotton in SA

The biotechnology industry has really tried to win small-scale farmers over to genetically modified (GM) cotton, especially in Africa and Asia. Getting cotton approved in a country is a good way for the industry to pave the way for the entry of GM food crops. It is estimated that farmers around the globe planted about […]

31 May 2010

ACB’s objection to Monsanto’s commodity clearance application for Smartstax

On 20 April, Business Day carried a public notice of Monsanto’s application to the South African GMO registrar for permission to import Smartstax maize, arguably the world’s most controversial and risky commercially grown GMO. While the majority of commercially grown genetically engineered crops contain at most 3 foreign genes, Smartstax contains eight, 6 of which […]

17 March 2008

Liability with clipped wings cannot fly

Representatives of civil society bear in mind the impacts of international regimes at the national and local levels. Will they help or will they harm? Bearing in mind biodiversity and people on the ground CSOs discussed the Co-Chair?s Core Elements Paper in conjunction with the proposals on the table in the Subworking Groups. Read here.