Latest Resources

17 August 2021
Integrate biodiversity targets from local to global levels
On 13 August 2021, the journal Science published an article titled, Integrate biodiversity targets from local to global levels, that included ACB executive director Mariam Mayet and research and advocacy officers Linzi Lewis and Andrew Bennie as co-authors. We are honoured to be part of this incredible team of African scientists, conservationists, and community leaders […]

18 August 2020
Registration of farmers’ varieties in SADC
Key Issues emerging from the dialogue between CSOs and SADC, African governments August 2020 The registration of farmer varieties is a controversial issue. On the one hand, it is argued that registration facilitates accessible opportunities and benefits for local farmers, such as increasing visibility of varieties, promotion and protection of indigenous knowledge, and opportunities for […]

22 July 2020
Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition Report
Coming on the heels of the publication of the UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition (SOFI) report presenting the global hunger and food insecurity figures, the Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition (GNRtFN) releases its 2020 State of the Right to Food and Nutrition Report, which the ACB supports. Here is […]

5 June 2020
Citizens of the world oppose intellectual property over seed, reclaim and restore local food syst...
Passer à la version française Haga clic aquí para la versión en español — Press release — Johannesburg, 5 June 2020 On 26 April, 2020, civil society organisations from across the world collectively called for a celebration of International Seed Day and not World Intellectual Property Day. Organisations numbering 348, from 46 countries, united to […]

3 February 2020
The GM potato push in Rwanda: With regulatory hurdles in Uganda, is this the industry’s fall back?
Sauter au français To enable the introduction of the first GM crop to be grown in Rwanda – a GM potato variety named ‘Victoria’ – the Rwandan government is fast-tracking the development of a biosafety policy and legal framework. Civil society is deeply concerned about the potential risks of this GM potato variety, which has […]

10 December 2019
More poisoning of South Africa’s staple food given the go-ahead: 2,4-D GM maize varieties approved
The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is extremely alarmed to learn that three genetically modified maize varieties developed by Corteva (new name of the Dow-DuPont merged entity) to withstand the application of the dangerous 2,4-D herbicide have been approved for general release by the Executive Council: GMO Act. This poses a grave threat to the […]

4 October 2019
Resounding no to Monsanto’s ‘bogus’ GM drought tolerant maize
Resounding no to Monsanto’s ‘bogus’ GM drought tolerant maize: South Africa’s Minister, Appeal Board and Biosafety Authority Reject Monsanto’s GM seeds Johannesburg, South Africa, 4 October 2019 After more than 10 years of battling Monsanto’s ‘bogus’ drought tolerant maize project, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) welcomes the decision by the Minister of Agriculture, Ms. […]

25 September 2019
AFRICANS REFUSE TO BE CHEMICAL DUMPING GROUND
Civil society organisations and citizens across Africa are calling upon their governments to issue an immediate ban on all use of glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). Launched by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) and the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), the #BanGlyphosateAfrica campaign has been endorsed by African organisations representing millions of […]

2 July 2019
Civil Society Denounces the Release of GM mosquitoes in Burkina Faso
We, the undersigned civil society organisations from Africa and around the world, denounce the release of genetically modified (GM) “male-sterile” mosquitoes in Burkina Faso. The GM mosquitoes were released in the village of Bana on 1 July 2019 by the Target Malaria research consortium.[i] The open release is intended to test the infrastructure and systems […]

27 May 2019
Securing equitable farmer support and the transition from the Farm Input Subsidy Programme in Zambia
We are pleased to share with you this discussion paper, co-published by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB). In Zambia, as in many other African countries, decisions related to food production and consumption increasingly lie outside the control of those responsible and accountable for food and […]