Latest Resources
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 […]
30 April 2022
Is the end of the State of Disaster the beginning of mandatory vaccines in South Africa?
The endless extensions to the State of Disaster, initially declared two years ago, has provoked criticism from medical experts and calls for its end from public-interest groups and an increasingly fed-up citizenry. Recently, the government announced that the restrictions were finally to be lifted. However, during this time, a draft amendment to the National Health […]
28 April 2022
The financialisation of malaria in Africa: Burkina Faso, rogue capital & GM /gene drive mosq...
(Veuillez cliquer ici pour lire en français) The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) hereby publishes a new research paper, titled, “The Financialisation of malaria: Burkina Faso, Rogue capital & GM/gene drive mosquitoes.” This paper seeks to understand the financialisation of malaria as a vehicle for rogue capital in a context of a weakened state (through […]
14 April 2022
International day of Peasants’ Struggles 17 April 2022 – UN expert applauds vital rol...
GENEVA (14 April 2022) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, draws attention to the struggles of peasants and others which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic alongside the rise of extrajudicial violence against peasants and armed conflicts around the world. On the International Day of Peasants’ Struggles, he […]
8 March 2022
Coalition demands a ban of Bt Cowpea in Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries
A coalition of non-governmental organisations, farmer groups and research experts from various African countries call on the Nigerian government to revoke the permits granted by Nigeria’s National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) to the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria, for the commercial release of genetically modified (Bt) Cowpea (PBR-Cowpea). This call was made yesterday in […]
23 February 2022
African Union endorses draconian, undemocratic and corporate captured policy guidelines for seed ...
Veuillez cliquer ici pour lire la version française The African Union (AU) has endorsed the continental guidelines for the harmonisation of seed and regulatory frameworks and the continental guidelines for the use of biotechnology in food and agriculture in Africa, despite fierce resistance from African civil society. On 16 February 2022, we found out that […]
22 September 2021
African Social movements rise up against the UNFSS and the African Union’s blueprint for corporat...
On 16 September, African social movements came together to discuss the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), which takes place on the 23 September. On this day, the African Union (AU) will be presenting an African “common position”. As social movements in Africa we reject both the UNFSS and the AU’s position, which allegedly […]
6 August 2021
Africa responds to the UNFSS
Let’s reclaim our food sovereignty and transform the industrial food system! African organisations participating in the global response to the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), including the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), coordinated an online session, as part of the three days of global counter-mobilisation, which took place during the UNFSS pre-summit, from 25 to […]
30 July 2021
Seed is power – Reclaiming African Seed Sovereignty: Africans speak out against corporate hegemon...
In rejection of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), which held its pre-summit this week, civil society, farmers groups and social movements came together for a global counter-mobilisation that spanned four days, with 15 online sessions. One of the webinars, titled Seed is power: Reclaiming African Seed Sovereignty, featured a presentation: Africans speak out […]