Latest Resources

6 May 2008
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 […]

5 March 2008
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 […]

13 February 2008
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% […]

15 October 2007
NGO Statement on an international regime on ABS
NGO Statement on an international regime on ABS. Read here.

6 September 2007
World Bank Projects on Biosafety Harmonisation
In Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Mali, Senegal A disclaimer addressed to the attention of GEF CEO and GEF council members by the Coalition for the Protection of African Genetic Heritage (COPAGEN). Read more here.

27 July 2007
Rural Communities Express Dismay: “land grabs” fuelled by Biofuels Strategy
More than sixty people met in Durban on March 5th 2007, to discuss the South African government’s Draft Industrial Biofuels Strategy, which is open for public comment until the end of March. The undersigned NGOs, individuals, farmer organisations and rural communities from KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga who attended the workshop, express our extreme […]

25 July 2007
Interrogating GMO Decision-Making: Critique of GMO Permit Applications in South Africa 2004-2007
This book aims to give insight into the role a public interest NGO can play, the context within which participation can happen, the breadth of GMO applications, the institutions involved, the trends developing and the tremendous range of issues that have to be grappled with. Title: Interrogating GMO Decision-Making: Critique of GMO Permit Applications in […]

20 July 2007
IMIPHAKATHI YASEMAPHANDLENI IBEKA IZWI LAYO NGENTUKUTHELO YO: KUPHUCWA IMIHLABA EHLONGOZWA AMASU EBI
Emva komhlangano obeseThekwini ngomhlaka 5 March 2007 obuhanjelwe abantu abangamashumi ayisthupha, mayelana nepulani elihlongozwa uHulumeni wase South Africa lamacebo okutshalwa kezihlahla zeBiofuel. Kwaba nezingxoxo ezinde mayelana naloku. Laba abasayine lapha abamele izinhlangano ezihlekene zamaNGO, izinhlangano zabalimi kane nemiphakathi ethintekayo kuloludaba ezifundeni zakwa Zulu-Natali, Empumalanga-Koloni kanye nase Mpumalanga beveza ukumangala okukhulu kanye novalo ngalamasu. Read more […]

11 February 2007
Uganda – GMO Legislation
INTRODUCTION During 2001, Uganda embarked on a national agricultural biotechnology programme focusing on the several transformative biotechnology innovations, and genetic engineering (GE). This programme is linked to Uganda’s policy to eradicate poverty by 2015, described in its Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). PEAP is Uganda’s overarching macro-economic framework, designed to transform Uganda into a modern […]

11 February 2007
Kenya – GMO Legislation
A Bill For An Act Of Parliament To Regulate Biotechnology And Biosafety Matters And For Connected Purposes. The ACB has been requested by a network of NGOs and other civil society groups in Kenya, to analyse and critically comment on the latest draft of the Kenyan Biosafety Bill (“the Bill”). Read the draft bill here.