Latest Resources
1 September 2025
South Africa’s plant breeders’ rights laws undermine farmers’ rights to seed and lock out farmer-...
In this briefing, we deal mainly with the Regulations made in terms of the Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) Act, No. 6302, on 13 June 2025, and particularly the exemptions to breeders’ rights, through the lens of understanding the impact on the realisation of farmers’ rights to seed and farmer-managed seed systems (FMSS). We discuss the […]
26 August 2025
We don’t need genome editing to ensure Africa’s food sovereignty
Will stringent regulation safeguard Africa’s food systems? Across Africa, powerful corporate, donor, and government interests are driving a rapid push to deregulate genome editing in agriculture. Countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso have adopted product-based guidelines that exempt many genome-edited crops from GMO regulation if no foreign DNA is present in […]
11 August 2025
Agricultural policy reform in South Africa
Addressing animal welfare within a just, agroecological food systems transition This discussion document, written by Linzi Lewis on behalf of Humane World for Animals, South Africa (SA), highlights the need for greater attention to be given to industrial animal agriculture. As one of the major drivers of current socio-ecological crises, it demands further consideration within […]
21 July 2025
First of its kind, South African pesticide compendium documents widespread and worrying human and...
Within the South African context of regulatory failure, antiquated legislation, and co-optation by industry, a considerable number of agrotoxins classified as highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) – many of which are banned in regions such as the European Union (EU) – as well as other noxious chemicals, have become ubiquitous in our environment, our food and […]
3 March 2025
On-going assaults on our food system and peoples’ health
Legal loopholes to allow continued use of highly hazardous pesticides, GM crops On the 27th of February, the ACB submitted substantive objections to the South African government’s attempt to backtrack on its commitments to phase out highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs), including glufosinate ammonium (GLA), by way of spurious and potentially unlawful “derogation” regulations. The rise […]
5 February 2025
Financing biodiversity in the face of capitalist extractivism and ecocide
ACB comments on the South African government’s Biodiversity Finance Plan Humanity is facing a multi-faceted crisis of civilisation, with environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Fundamentally, this crisis is caused by capitalist dynamics of accumulation and extraction, and the associated use of the environment as a free or cheap resource and service provider. Effective biodiversity restoration […]
11 December 2024
Artist Gallery: Adam Rumball
UK-born Adam Rumball has been a practicing graphic designer since graduating from Norwich City College of Arts. He moved to South Africa in 1997 where he worked within the publishing and advertising industries. Our relationship with Rumball goes back to our beginnings as an organisation and has continued to the present day. For each of […]
9 December 2024
Artist Gallery: Isaac Zavale
Isaac Zavale is a Mozambican fine artist and street artist born in 1988 in Maputo. He currently resides between two cities, Johannesburg and Berlin. Zavale’s artistic journey began when he graduated from the Artist Proof Studio in Johannesburg in 2012. Subsequently, he co-founded the printmaking studio Prints on Paper (POP) and initiated the Alphabet Zoo […]
6 December 2024
Artist Gallery: Mzwandile Buthelezi
Mzwandile Buthelezi is a Johannesburg-based multidisciplinary artist and jazz musician; known for singular illustrations that dynamically converse with his musical compositions bring together jazz and art in a piercing way that reaches both the spirit and mind. We are honoured by the exquisite logo he created for us, with a refresh of our palette and […]
2 December 2024
Artist Gallery: Baynham Goredema
Over the past several years, Zimbabwean artist and graphic designer Baynham Goredema has created iconic covers and layout for many publications, including the standout Multiple shocks in Africa series and a 2024 briefing paper on the harm caused by subsidies on Africa. He is a multidisciplinary creative with over 20 years of experience. He has […]