Latest Resources
21 July 2025
South African Compendium on pesticides is a comprehensive database listing over 100 papers produc...
A user-friendly resource for researchers, advocates, and civil society ACB is proud to release a collation of the past two decades of research done on pesticide use in South Africa, in the form of a searchable (and downloadable) database, below. For the first time, this extensive body of scientific evidence of the harm caused by […]
22 November 2024
Petition – Reckless endangerment: Hold South African government and chemical industry to account ...
17 June 2025 UPDATE: Thank you to all who signed our petition, supporting our call to hold the South African government and chemical industry accountable for the devastating effects of toxic pesticides on our society. Following the South African People’s Tribunal on AgroToxins (SAPToA), which was held in March this year, the three jurors, Judge […]
5 July 2024
Stop chemical war on bodies of farm workers, farm dwellers and their children!
Statement rejecting the Draft Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents published on 5 April 2024, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No 85 of 1993) On 5 May 2024, the Democratic Alliance (DA) staged a protest outside the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) headquarters in Johannesburg. As part of the political […]
6 June 2024
Annual report for 2023 celebrates ACB’s 20th anniversary
2023 was a special year for the ACB, as it marked the twentieth anniversary since our organisation came into being, initially in response to the emergence of genetically modified organisms and the attendant biosafety issues in food and agriculture. As the organisation grew, our focus broadened to include a host of interconnected issues affecting food […]
7 December 2023
Call on South Africa to deregister agrotoxin 2,4-D
Dear friends and colleagues, The ACB, supported by 18 organisations/networks in South Africa, has made a substantive submission to the Registrar of the Fertilizers, Farm Feeds, Seeds and Remedies Act 36 of 1947 (commonly referred to as Act 36), to institute a review in terms of section 4 of the Act 36, into the continued […]
5 December 2023
UPOV-aligned PVP laws impinge on farmer seed systems
We stand united in our commitment to addressing the pervasive push for the adoption of plant variety protection (PVP) laws in Africa, aligned with the Eurocentric International Union for Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) 1991 model. We continue to declare our unwavering dedication to championing a just and sustainable agricultural future for the […]
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 […]
10 May 2023
NO TO GM WHEAT IN SOUTH AFRICA!
We call on the government to reverse approval of GM wheat into our country Thank you to the 80+ organisations, listed below, who support this ACB submission to the South African Biosafety authorities, the Executive Council (EC): GMO Act, to review and reassess its decision to grant approval for the importation into South Africa of […]
2 December 2022
Civil society and farmer network organisations call on the South African Department of Agricultur...
This is the main thrust of the open letter we sent to Minister Thoko Didiza today, with Biowatch, Environmental Monitoring Group, the Association for Rural Advancement, and Tshintsha Amakhaya. So far 50 organisations have endorsed the letter. This letter is intended to push the Department to engage systematically and meaningfully with CSOs, including household and […]
29 November 2022
The changing nature of Kenya’s seed sector: lessons from the potato seed industry
In this paper, we discuss the changes taking place in the Kenyan seed sector, with a focus on potato. The changes paint an extremely disturbing picture of how draconian agricultural and seed laws and policies are undermining smallholder farmers and their seed and food systems. These laws and policies form part of the architecture that […]