GM & biosafety

Southern African civil society responds to false claims about benefits to food and nutrition security

The African Centre of Biodiversity joins a collective of civil society organisations to endorse Glen Ashton’s calling out of chief economist of AgBiz, Wandile Sihlobo, on his May articles in Business Day and Project Syndicate, which promote the continued use of genetically modified (GM), and the introduction of gene drive, crops. 

Agrarian extractivism continues unabated on the African continent 

In this alert, African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) research and advocacy officers, Sabrina Masinjila and Rutendo Zendah, give insights into the development of a double stacked drought tolerant variety MON 87460 x MON 810, under the Gate’s funded project, Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), now known as TELA, for sub-Saharan countries. 

It is incontestable that 2,4-D is extremely toxic for the environment and human health, as numerously raised and resisted by civil society for more than a decade. However, a succession of South African regulators over the years have failed to stop 2,4-D from entering our agricultural and food system, in a global context where many countries are re-evaluating the toxicity of herbicides, and setting more stringent limits of what they will permit.