Latest Resources

Formal complaint to the Compliance Committee of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety

Our complaint is in regard to the non-compliance of the South African Government to this treaty The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) is a South African NGO deeply concerned with biosafety in South Africa and on the African continent. We have, over the years, been involved in the revision and improvement of South Africa’s biosafety […]

Pirating African heritage: the pillaging continues

The cases of suspected biopiracy are summarised and discussed in a few paragraphs. Patent numbers and/or application numbers are provided for each, as well as contact information for the entity or entities that have lodged the patent claims. Using the provided data, the full patent (application) text can be accessed online at patent websites, such […]

South African GM grapevine trials to go ahead

The South African authorities have given the go-ahead to the Institute of wine biotechnology, based at the University of Stellenbosch, to conduct open-air field trials of grapevines genetically modified to resist fungal disease, despite the failure of fungal resistant grapevines in German trials seven years ago. Read more here.

Africa’s Green Revolution rolls out the Gene Revolution

The ‘New Green Revolution in Africa’, touted since the 1990s, was given renewed impetus two and a half years ago, when the Rockefeller and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations launched the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Although AGRA itself does not incorporate genetically modified (GM) crops in its projects, the ominous presence […]

Genes from Africa: the Colonisation of Human DNA

Indigenous people’s groups and NGOs have waged a long and bitter struggle against the Human Genome Diversity Project and similar efforts to collect the DNA of indigenous and other peoples without appropriate consent and sufficient safeguards against abuse. The Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP), the brainchild of Italian geneticist Luca Cavalli-Sforza, comprised of a group […]

A Green Revolution for Africa: Disaster in the making

When world leaders hastily gathered at the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation’s (FAO) high level conference to respond to the global food crisis the three Rome based UN organizations (the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural development and the World Food Programme) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in […]

Letter from McDonalds Restaurant re GM Potatoes

Allegedly, McDonald’s is committed to providing quality food to our customers and source our products and ingredients from the best suppliers locally and globally. In South Africa, their potatoes are sourced from McCain Foods and so we asked their Managing Director, Mr Owen Porteus, to provide us with full clarification on the use of GMO […]

Rural Community of SA stand up against Pelargonium Patents & Biopiracy

A rural community in South Africa stands up against pelargonium patents and biopiracy. The Alice community, living in the Eastern Cape area of South Africa, in close collaboration with the African Centre for Biosafety, and supported by the Berne Declaration (Switzerland), the Church Development Service (EED) and “Kein Patent auf Leben” (Germany), has challenged two […]

New GM Potato Book: Executive Summary

In 2001, the South African Agricultural Research Council (ARC) began conducting field trials with potatoes genetically modified to contain a Bt gene Cry1Ia1 (formerly BtCryV). This novel gene is intended to protect the plants and potato tubers from infestations of the Potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella). This research is not home grown or ‘truly South […]

South Africa’s Biofuels Strategy: greenwashing agribusiness interests

The impetus for the establishment of a biofuels industry in South Africa also came from industry lobbyists under the banner of the Southern African Biofuels Association (SABA). Consequently, the South African government published a feasibility report and a draft Biofuels Industrial Strategy in 2006, which proposed the establishment of a mandatory bioethanol target of 8% […]