publications

For immediate release 28 August 2018

BioAfrica Convention: Open for the business of profit; closed to the questions that matter

This pamphlet offers a quick background on the FISPs and the key issues and concerns. It explains what FISPs are, their aims, why the FISPs are failing to meet their objectives, how they promote small-scale farmer dependency, and ways of transitioning out of FISPs towards more appropriate forms of smallholder farmer support.

June 2018

In the climate change arena there are two main streams of work – mitigation, which are measures we need to take to stop emissions and halt climate change, and adaptation – the varied practices we are taking and can take to adapt to living with the new conditions that climate change brings.

Video: Smallholder Farmer Autonomy Over Seed Production – the final release in a series of six videos from the ACB hosted event, National Seed Dialogue and Celebration, held in December 2017 at Constitution Hill.

Press Release from the African Centre for Biodiversity

Johannesburg, June 27

Availability of and access to diverse, quality seed is a key element in successful crop production. Commercial seed systems focus only on seeds where profits can be made. Over time this has resulted in neglect and disappearance of diverse indigenous and farmer varieties, and a shrinking of agricultural biodiversity.

Huge technical advances in molecular biology and big data biology are leading us towards a ‘forth industrial revolution’ with the ongoing development of novel genetic engineering techniques being reviewed by the UN Conventions for Biological Diversity, under the term ‘synthetic biology’.

This week the water-stressed city of Cape Town hosts the bi-annual Adaptation Futures conference, where scientists, business leaders, and practitioners from the world of development and agriculture will come together to engage in ‘dialogues for solutions’ to

I attended a dialogue on corporate ownership in South Africa in May, in Tshwane, hosted by Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS). There was strong government representation at the dialogue, including from Treasury; Trade and Industry; Minerals and Energy; and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. Someone from the EU was also there.

Resisting Corporate Seed Laws in South Africa - the fourth in a series of six videos covering discussions from the ACB hosted event, National Seed Dialogue and Celebration

Author: Stephen Greenberg, ACB Research Coordinator

A heated public debate on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) ensued during a seminar organised by MVIWATA – a network of smallholder farmers – in Morogoro, Tanzania. The meeting took place on 12 May 2018 and was attended by more than a hundred people, including parliamentarians and high-level government officials.

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) is deeply concerned that South Africa’s draconian corporate seed Bills were approved by the Parliamentary Select Committee on the 22nd May 2018, with no substantial changes being made.

At the National Seed Dialogue and Celebration, hosted by the African Centre for Biodiversity at Constitution Hill in December 2017, this session on Participatory Plant Breeding and Smallholder Farmers looked at issues of smallholder farmers & seed breeding/crop improvement and the pot

The news that the Swaziland Environmental Authority (SEA) had authorised the importation and commercial release of Bt cotton seeds came as a huge shock to the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

Spiritual and Cultural Value of Seed in South Africa (one of a series of six videos covering discussions from the ACB hosted event, National Seed Dialogue and Celebration - December 2017)

“Seeds are the basis of life. Human life, your life, is dependent on plants. The qualities of the seed go beyond beauty to sustaining us nutritionally and medicinally. Seed is the foundation of human diets across the world.”

Press Release from the African Centre for Biodiversity

Johannesburg, Thursday 5 April 2018

The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) has prepared this policy discussion document as a contribution towards national and regional seed policies in Africa that recognise and support farmer seed systems.

The ACB has played an essential watch-dog role on new GMO permits in South Africa for a decade now, adding substantially to the discourse about the scientific assessment of GMOs as well as about issues of socioeconomic impacts and democratic decisionmaking, through lodging substantive comments on at least 30 permit applications.