Latest Resources
30 August 2023
The rise of digital agriculture and dispossession in Africa: implications for smallholder farmers
In part one in a series of two, consisting of a briefing paper and linked fact sheet, we explore the current status of digital agriculture in Africa and the potential implications its deployment has for smallholder farmers on the continent. We outline three primary areas of concern related to potential inequitable benefits and influence accrued from its deployment; […]
28 August 2023
Seed harmonisation in Eastern and Southern Africa
Failures, corporate occupation, and the rise of digitalised seed trade: dire implications for farmer managed seed and food systems in Africa Regional seed policy harmonisation processes on seed and plant variety protection (PVP) legislation have been underway for the past 15 years on the African continent. These have taken place under the auspices of various […]
16 August 2023
Cultivating diversity for a just agroecological transition in Africa
The inextricable link between agricultural biodiversity, agroecology, climate change, and biodiversity In this briefing, Cultivating diversity for a just agroecological transition in Africa: the inextricable link between agricultural biodiversity, agroecology, climate change, and biodiversity, we highlight the pivotal role of agricultural biodiversity, in particular, crop diversity and its interrelatedness and dependence on farmer managed seed […]
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 […]
5 May 2023
UNSAFE GM WHEAT TO ENTER SOUTH AFRICA’S FOOD SYSTEMS
DISASTER CAPITALISM, BIOTECH INDUSTRY IN DECLINE & INSTRUMENTALISATION OF WHEAT IN AFRICA In August 2022, the South African government approved a GM wheat variety HB4 for importation as food, feed, and for the purposes of industrial food and feed processing, following Nigeria’s approval in July. Since then, Argentina and Brazil have been the only two […]
3 April 2023
REFLEXIONS DES AGRICULTEURS ZIMBABWEENS SUR LA FOIRE AUX SEMENCES PAYSANNES D’AFRIQUE DE L’OUESTS...
La 7e foire annuelle aux semences paysannes d’Afrique de l’Ouest, organisée par le Comité ouest-africain de semences paysannes (COASP), s’est tenue à Zoungbonou, au Bénin, du 9 au 11 mars 2023. Elle a rassemblé 75 exposants de 25 pays, principalement de la communauté ouest-africaine, mais aussi des agriculteurs d’Afrique de l’Est, des représentants du gouvernement […]
28 March 2023
REFLECTIONS FROM ZIMBABWEAN FARMERS ON WEST AFRICA PEASANTS’ SEED FAIR
The 7th annual West Africa Peasants’ Seed Fair, hosted by the West African Committee for Farmers’ Seeds (Comité Ouest Africain de Semences Paysannes – COASP), was held in Zoungbonou, Benin, from 9-11 March 2023, bringing together 75 exhibitors from 25 countries, predominantly from the West African community but also including farmers from East Africa, government officials and […]
17 March 2023
2,4-D GM MAIZE AND THE REGULATORY ANOMALIES REGARDING GMOs AND ASSOCIATED PESTICIDES
The case for categorising 2,4-D as a highly hazardous pesticide in South Africa In December 2019, three genetically modified (GM maize) varieties developed by Corteva (formally Dow AgroSciences) – genetically engineered to tolerate the toxic and highly hazardous chemical 2,4-D – were approved for commercial cultivation in South Africa, despite many long years of opposition […]
3 March 2023
GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR BIOSAFETY AND BIODIVE...
– By ACB Research and Advocacy Officer Sabrina Masinjila & Executive Director Mariam Mayet For several years, the ACB has engaged at multiple levels with the development of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). In the lead up to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Conservation’s fifteenth Conference of Parties (COP 15), held in Montreal, Canada in […]
10 February 2023
JUDGMENT ON ACB’S HIGH COURT REVIEW OF MONSANTO’S ALLEGED DROUGHT TOLERANT GM TRAIT PENDING
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, 7-8 February, the ACB’s case was heard in the High Court. Five years earlier, the ACB lodged the application for this review, to overturn the decisions of the South African Executive Council (EC): Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Act, the GMO Appeal Board, and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and […]