Latest Resources
21 July 2025
South African Compendium on pesticides is a comprehensive database listing over 100 papers produc...
A user-friendly resource for researchers, advocates, and civil society ACB is proud to release a collation of the past two decades of research done on pesticide use in South Africa, in the form of a searchable (and downloadable) database, below. For the first time, this extensive body of scientific evidence of the harm caused by […]
30 September 2024
Perilous GM wheat to be grown in SA: transgenic crop plants increasingly given a biosafety-free pass
—— Press release ———- 30 September 2024 Genetically modified (GM) wheat, purported to be drought tolerant, is set to be grown in field trials in South Africa during 2025 and 2026, at three locations in the Western Cape (near Moorreesburg, Protem, and Swellendam) and one in the Northern Cape (near Hopetown), following an application for […]
5 July 2024
Stop chemical war on bodies of farm workers, farm dwellers and their children!
Statement rejecting the Draft Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents published on 5 April 2024, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No 85 of 1993) On 5 May 2024, the Democratic Alliance (DA) staged a protest outside the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) headquarters in Johannesburg. As part of the political […]
14 May 2024
ACB’s legacy podcast: celebrating 20 years of resistance against GMOs in Africa
This legacy series provides an opportunity to reflect on and celebrate the past two decades of ACB’s advocacy and activism, with a particular focus on resisting the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into our agricultural and food systems in Africa. Our first podcast in the series is hosted by ACB Research and Advocacy Officer […]
7 December 2023
Call on South Africa to deregister agrotoxin 2,4-D
Dear friends and colleagues, The ACB, supported by 18 organisations/networks in South Africa, has made a substantive submission to the Registrar of the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Seeds and Remedies Act 36 of 1947 (commonly referred to as Act 36), to institute a review in terms of section 4 of the Act 36, into the continued […]
5 December 2023
UPOV-aligned PVP laws impinge on farmer seed systems
We stand united in our commitment to addressing the pervasive push for the adoption of plant variety protection (PVP) laws in Africa, aligned with the Eurocentric International Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 model. We continue to declare our unwavering dedication to championing a just and sustainable agricultural future for the […]
26 May 2023
Assessment of support for agroecology in South Africa’s policy landscape
by Dr Stephen Greenberg (Veuillez cliquer ici pour le français) In March 2023, civil society organisations and farmers met with the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to share views on agroecology and to promote a call from 58 organisations for a national agroecology strategy. In support of the process, the ACB […]
2 December 2022
Civil society and farmer network organisations call on the South African Department of Agricultur...
This is the main thrust of the open letter we sent to Minister Thoko Didiza today, with Biowatch, Environmental Monitoring Group, the Association for Rural Advancement, and Tshintsha Amakhaya. So far 50 organisations have endorsed the letter. This letter is intended to push the Department to engage systematically and meaningfully with CSOs, including household and […]
14 September 2022
Breaking from the rest of the continent
South Africa moves towards recognising smallholder farmers’ Right to Seed and farmer seed systems – but the road ahead is still long By Linzi Lewis, ACB Research and Advocacy Officer & Mariam Mayet, ACB Executive Director After much anticipation, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) published draft Regulations to implement the Plant […]
30 August 2022
Regulations of Plant Improvement Act and Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, 2018
Please find here ACB’s comments to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development regarding the recently published Regulations to implement the Plant Improvement Act 2018, and the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, 2018. The Department has taken important steps in these Regulations to ensure that certain groups of farmers are exempt from these corporate […]