Latest Resources

ACB’s first newsletter: July 2020

Reflections midway through a tumultuous year Greetings from the ACB! We are happy to share with you our first newsletter. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing flux has led to deep reflection, as we grapple with how to meet unprecedented challenges. And through the stringent lockdown, our agile and mostly young and women-led […]

Corporate capture of seed Is jeopardising farmers sovereignty

In a film by Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, ACB research and advocacy officer Sabrina Masinjila talks about the corporate capture of seeds and how laws favour hybrid seeds and not farmers who care for indigenous seeds. Watch here: https://youtu.be/kEqKDLv65dc

Stephen Greenberg’s departure from the ACB at the end of June 2020

Sadly, at the end of June, the ACB’s senior researcher Stephen Greenberg is departing from the ACB. In a joint letter by executive director Mariam Mayet and Stephen, they reflect on their journey together. We are writing together, Mariam and Stephen. We have found ourselves walking the same path for a number of years now, […]

Commentary submitted to FAO discussion on the AFCFTA as it relates to food and agriculture

On 2 June, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) submitted commentary on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) as it relates to food and agriculture, to a discussion hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). Our concerns centred around three areas: the kind of food systems that in its […]

Towards building consensus to democratise Africa’s food systems during COVID-19 and beyond: A Web...

If you missed our African civil society organisation collective online teach-in: please click here to view the webinar. Towards building consensus to democratise Africa’s food systems during COVID-19 and beyond DATE: Thursday 30 April 2020 TIME: 15h00 Central Africa Time/ SA (GMT +2), 14h00 West Africa Time (GMT +1), 16h00 East Africa Time (GMT +3) […]

More toxic GM crops & food for SA; Ineffective GM drought tolerant maize pushed on Kenya and...

In this first alert of the decade, African Centre of Biodiversity research and advocacy officers Linzi Lewis and Sabrina Masinjila provide an update on the status of GM activities, in South Africa and in relation to the region. Summary of current key trends The South African government has authorised field trials of 2,4-D resistant soybean. […]

Insights from farmer dialogues in Kalulushi, Zambia

In 2019, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) co-hosted four farmer exchanges in Zambia. The first was in Kalulushi, Copperbelt Province, in partnership with the Zambia College of Horticultural Training (ZCHT) Chapula, Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre (KATC), and the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB). ACB Advocacy and Research Officer Rutendo Zendah gives an […]

IPC’s letter on UN Food Systems Summit: Call for support

The International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) calls on CSOs to endorse their letter of concern to the UN regarding the 2021 World Food Summit Since the 1996 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s (FAO’s) World Food Summit (WFS) in Rome, civil society organisations (CSOs) supporting food sovereignty have created alliances across […]

ALERT: More poisoning of South Africa’s staple food, as 2,4-D GM maize set for approval

6 September 2019 The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is extremely concerned about impending approvals by the South African government in regard to three new genetically modified (GM) maize varieties designed to withstand the extremely toxic herbicide, 2,4-D. 2,4-D is one of the active ingredients of the infamous war chemical Agent Orange. The ACB has […]