Latest Resources
24 March 2011
Monsanto – from chemical producer to food producer
Monsanto is one of the most powerful players in the global seed business today. Not only does it own a huge portion of the world’s commercial seed, but it also wields a lot of power over global agricultural policy and practice. How did a company that started out by making chemicals for warfare, gain control […]
24 March 2011
What is a GM crop?
Genetically modified (GM) seeds have been created in a laboratory. The process of creating them is completely new and does not happen in nature. Since farming began people have worked with nature to breed plants and animals to suit human needs. Usually this breeding can only happen within the same ‘species’ or family. For example, […]
24 March 2011
Debunking GM myths
The biotechnology industry has spread many myths about what GMOs can do. These are not based on fact and have been shown to be false in reality. Myths we often hear include: GMOs decrease pesticide use; they have massively increased yield potential; and have been thoroughly tested for safety. GM crops are not the norm. […]
9 March 2011
Alert to anti-GM activists in Egypt, India, Mexico and South Korea
South Africa’s GM maize flooding into your countries!!! The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) has been monitoring the GMO landscape in South Africa since 2004. As recently as three years ago South Africa was importing millions of tons of GM maize from Argentina, used mainly in the animal feed industry. During 2010, South African maize […]
6 July 2010
Call on South Africans to Back Labelling of GM Foods
South Africa’s food shelves are stocked with hundreds of products that contain Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). These are organisms whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The list includes: South Africa’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA) creates an opportunity for the mandatory labelling of foodstuffs which contain or are Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). […]
7 February 2010
Bayer, Monsanto vie for South Africa’s sugar cane
Bayer, Monsanto vie for South Africa’s sugar cane Bayer is bank rolling the South African Association-Sugarcane Research Institute (SASRI) who have approached SA’s National Department of Agriculture for permission to conduct open field trials of GM sugarcane. SASRI also hopes to test a GM sugarcane variety using Monsanto’s Bt gene. Read here.
27 July 2007
ACB ALERT: Spate of New GM Experiments in SA
ACB ALERT: NEW GM EXPERIMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA, JULY 2007 It is with extreme disquiet that the African Centre for Biosafety notes the recent spate of new applications for GM experiments in South Africa, see below. We are extremely concerned that our government has laid our country open to the wholesale experimentation involving a whole […]
8 March 2007
Biofuels Africa Alert: Africa’s Biodiesel: Going Nuts
It is with extreme disquiet that the African Centre for Biosafety notes the recent spate of new applications for GM experiments in South Africa, see below. We are extremely concerned that our government has laid our country open to the wholesale experimentation involving a whole new range of GM applications, in a context where there […]
11 February 2006
South Africa – GM Food Labelling Regulations
Why Do We Need To Label Genetically Modified (gm) Food Products? Facts For South African Consumers African Centre for Biosafety, Feb 2006. Read here. Critical Analysis Of South Africa’s Labelling Regulations For Genetically Modified Food, Feed And Products Derived From Gm-fed Animals Mariam Mayet, Oct 2004. Read here. Regulations Relating To The Labelling Of Foodstuffs […]
28 January 2006
The Long, winding road to a Biosafety Protocol – a South African view
At the negotiations for the Biosafety Protocol in Cartagena, the South Africa government surprised critics by displaying a maturity and understanding of the issues and concerns facing developing countries on the question of genetically engineered organisms. This in spite of attempts by the ‘Miami group’, a negotiating group representing the largest producer nations of biotechnology, […]