Latest Resources

5 January 2016

Declaration on Plant Variety Protection and Seed Laws from the South-South Dialogue

We, participants at the South-South Dialogue, are members of peasant and civil society organisations and concerned individuals from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe working on issues of food and seed sovereignty, peasants’ control of seed production and exchange, and biodiversity. We gathered in Durban, South Africa 27-29 November 2015 to share information and knowledge, […]

17 December 2015

APPEAL AGAINST MONSANTO’S BOGUS GM DROUGHT TOLERANT MAIZE HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR URGENT AGRICULTURE ...

South Africa is in the grip of the worst drought since 1992, with many parts of the country experiencing record temperatures and little to no rain. The maize and transport industries are currently planning for a worst-case scenario, where the continent’s largest maize producer – South Africa – may potentially need to import 4 million […]

11 November 2015

#GlyphosateMustFall

The South African government needs to ban the use of glyphosate in our food system with immediate effect. Glyphosate (most commonly known as RoundUp) is the most widely used herbicide in South Africa and its use has increased dramatically since the introduction of genetically modified maize, soya and cotton that has been engineered to survive […]

11 August 2015

ACB to battle SA Govt/ Monsanto over controversial GM ‘drought tolerant’ maize

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has on 7th August 2015, lodged an appeal to Agriculture, Water Affairs and Forestry Minister Senzeni Zokwana, against the general release approval of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) maize, MON87460 granted by the Executive Council (EC): GMO Act. Such approval means that Monsanto can sell the GM maize seed, MON87460, […]

2 July 2015

AFSA calls on African governments at Arusha meeting to shun protocol that undermines sovereignty ...

Nineteen African nations, members of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), began deliberating on the highly contentious draft ARIPO Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Protocol on Monday, 29th June in Arusha Tanzania. Many of these nations are least developed countries, the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world. If adopted, the Protocol will establish […]

20 March 2015

Get Involved

You Can make a difference by keeping the pressure on food producers. Consumer pressure works… Especially if it is constant and relentless… We have won many victories and we can win the big ones too. Consumers have the power! Let’s take back our food supply… Please sign our petition to call on South African food […]

20 March 2014

AFSA’s comments on ARIPO’s response to civil society: Draft legal framework for plant...

At the 2013 November meeting of the Administrative Council and Council of Ministers of ARIPO countries held in Kampala, Uganda, several documents on the proposed legal framework for Plant Variety Protection were distributed. Also circulated was a Matrix1 containing ARIPO’s responses to a detailed submission by civil society organisations (CSOs) dated 6th November 2013. In […]

15 January 2014

Objection to Monsanto’s application for commodity clearance for MON 89034 x MON 88017

This submission by Monsanto makes a joke of biosafety risk assessment in that it is not based on the actual event under consideration, but rather, the applicant posits claim of lack of harm, toxicity, and allergenicity based on data carried out on other lines containing the same transgene/event. This violates the case by case approach […]

21 October 2013

ARIPO’S Plant Variety Protection law based on UPOV 1991 criminalises farmers’ rights ...

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa [1] is gravely concerned about a draft law developed under the auspices of the Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), dealing with a harmonised regional legal framework for the protection of plant breeders’ rights, titled “Draft Regional Policy and Legal Framework for Plant Variety Protection”. The ARIPO legal […]

1 October 2013

AFSA Statement Condemning COMESA Approval of GMO Policy

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa[1] is alarmed at the approval during September 2013, by the Council of Ministers of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) of the COMESA ‘Draft Policy Statements and Guidelines for commercial planting of GMOs, Trade in GMOs and Emergency Food aid with GMO content.’ The COMESA […]