Latest Resources

25 May 2017

War Chemical 2,4 D GM maize in SA: in the fields and coming to our plates soon

Press Release from the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) and the Commercial & the Stevedoring, Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) Thursday, 25 May 2017 The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has published a briefing paper today titled, ‘South Africa and 2,4 D GM maize: Biosafety, Socio economic […]

9 May 2017

South Africa’s Competition Commission gives conditional approval for Bayer-Monsanto merger

In December 2016 Monsanto shareholders voted in favour of the sale of the company to Bayer for US$66 billion, making it the largest-ever foreign corporate takeover by a German company. The deal requires approval from about 30 regulatory agencies around the world. The Competition Commission of South Africa (CCSA) was the first to be officially […]

25 April 2017

Profits, power and myth making: Monsanto’s ‘bogus’ GM drought tolerant maize challenged in South ...

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has lodged an appeal to the High Court of South Africa to overturn decisions of the GMO authority, the GMO Appeal Board and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, to commercialise Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) drought-tolerant (DT) maize seed. More than 25 000 concerned citizens have signed petitions […]

13 March 2017

Two simplified briefings introducing new GM technologies and biosafety risks

These reports introduce the novel techniques already being employed, or in development and their associated biosafety concerns that go against the claim that crops developed with these methods are technological progress in ‘precision’ and ‘safety’. Further described is the utilisation of RNA interference, an epigenetic process that is already being employed in commercialised crops. Despite […]

13 February 2017

The Bayer-Monsanto merger: Implications for South Africa’s agricultural future and its smallholde...

This paper explores the likely implications of an approved Bayer-Monsanto merger for the South African agricultural system. It outlines the trend of consolidation occurring within the seed and agrochemical industries, provides a background to the merger, criticises the rationale given for the merger by Bayer and Monsanto and outlines concerns should the merger be approved […]

13 February 2017

Bayer-Monsanto merger: An existential threat to South Africa’s food system

In December 2016 Monsanto shareholders voted in favour of the sale of the company to Bayer for US$66 billion, making it the largest-ever foreign corporate takeover by a German company. Both Bayer and Monsanto are major global manufacturers of agrochemicals and seeds, including genetically modified seed. A merged entity would be the world’s largest supplier […]

2 February 2017

Against the odds, smallholder farmers maintain agricultural biodiversity in South Africa

This report is a result of research conducted in partnership with Tshintsha Amakhaya, Farmer Support Group, TCOE Zingisa and Surplus People Project. The report investigates the state of farmer-managed seed systems in rural South Africa. Through three case studies in Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, the report highlights both the fragility and perseverance of […]

13 January 2017

Hands OFF Our Food Systems! Small Farmers NOT Corporates Feed Africa

This lobby paper Who will feed Africans: Small-scale farmers not corporations! produced by the partnership between FoEA and ACB, makes the compelling case for African agriculture to transition towards agroecology and food sovereignty, recognising and strengthening the role of small scale farmers, rather than benefiting few large scale corporations with detrimental ecological, socio-economic, and nutritional […]

30 November 2016

African Civil Society and farmer representatives blocked from ARIPO deliberations on regional see...

The authoritarian nature of the African Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) Secretariat and its undemocratic processes are scandalous and unacceptable. Locking African farmer representatives and civil society out in order to allow unfettered draconian regional law making is deeply disturbing. What is at play here is entrenching an agricultural future for smallholder farmers in the 19 […]

15 October 2016

World Food Day – South Africa faces drought, rising food prices and false promises of GMOs

To cope with drought and rising food prices, we need to urgently move away from genetically modified food and towards indigenous African crops. So warns the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). “We need to urgently shift away from maize towards embracing a diversity of crops – particularly indigenous African summer grain crops such as sorghum […]