Latest Resources
21 October 2013
ARIPO’S Plant Variety Protection law based on UPOV 1991 criminalises farmers’ rights ...
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa [1] is gravely concerned about a draft law developed under the auspices of the Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), dealing with a harmonised regional legal framework for the protection of plant breeders’ rights, titled “Draft Regional Policy and Legal Framework for Plant Variety Protection”. The ARIPO legal […]
1 October 2013
AFSA Statement Condemning COMESA Approval of GMO Policy
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa[1] is alarmed at the approval during September 2013, by the Council of Ministers of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) of the COMESA ‘Draft Policy Statements and Guidelines for commercial planting of GMOs, Trade in GMOs and Emergency Food aid with GMO content.’ The COMESA […]
1 October 2013
AFSA Statement Condemning COMESA Approval of Seed Regulations
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa strongly condemns the approval during September 2013, by the Council of Ministers of the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) of the draft COMESA Seed Trade Harmonization Regulations, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Seed Regulations’). The COMESA Seed Regulations will greatly facilitate agricultural transformation in […]
9 September 2013
Civil Society Calls for PUBLIC Parliamentary Hearings on Genetically Modified Food
On the 6th of August 2012, the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB), supported by 18 health professionals, more than 7000 individuals, 22 organisations and the Honourable Cheryllyn Dudley of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), submitted a petition to the National Assembly. The petition called for a review of the government decision to allow the […]
20 July 2013
Open letter to the National Chamber of Milling on GMO labelling and the development of a GM-Free ...
In July 2012 the National Chamber of Milling (NCM) posted a position on Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on its website, in which it supports the principle of consumer choice and pledges to “encourage identity preservation within the grain supply chain to enable clear labelling of our product to the consumer market”. However, the biotech industry […]
5 July 2013
Africa demands Tiger Brands to Go GM Free
A letter from the ACB to Tiger Brands is supported by 39 African organisations working at grass-roots on issues of agriculture, consumer concerns and primary health care calling upon Tiger Brands to go GM free. Tiger Brands operates in 25 African countries and has ownership of a number of food manufacturers on the continent including […]
3 July 2013
Modernising African Agriculture: Who benefits? Civil Society statement on the G8, AGRA and the Af...
African agriculture is in need of support and investment. Many initiatives are flowing from the North, including the G8’s ‘New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa’ and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). These initiatives are framed in terms of the African Union’s Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). This […]
15 May 2013
STATEMENT BY CIVIL SOCIETY IN AFRICA
MODERNISING AFRICAN AGRICULTURE: WHO BENEFITS? African agriculture is in need of support and investment. Many initiatives are flowing from the North, including the G8’s “New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa” and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). These initiatives are framed in terms of the African Union’s Comprehensive African […]
2 April 2013
Civil Society Statement on COMESA Seed Trade Laws
This submission was made by civil society groups at a COMESA meeting in Lusaka during March 2013, in which serious concerns were raised about the COMESA seed trade laws as negatively impacting on small farmers in the COMESA region. Statement made by: Zambia Climate Change Network (ZCCN); East and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum […]
1 April 2013
Civil Society submission on SADC PVP Protocol
This document represents the submission by more than 80 civil society organisations from the SADC region, other parts of Africa and around the world to the SADC Secretariat. These groups representing millions of farmers have condemned the SADC draft Protocol for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants as spelling disaster for small farmers and […]