SAFEAGE in South Africa

SAFEAGE pledges to continue its fight for the right to safe food, to ensure agro-ecological zero-waste farming practices are implemented and to build strong consumer alliances.

Some of SAFEAGE's achievements so far are: 
 

• Compulsory labelling of  all GM foods in the Consumer Protection Act and continued work to detail how this is managed through the General Regulations to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA)
• A GMO Food List for the public was compiled
• GMO clauses in Biodiversity Bill were withdrawn after objections
• Objections were lodged against several GMO field trials
• Input to numerous Parliamentary Portfolio committees explaining the shortcomings of GMOs and industrial agriculture
• Trolley run protests that force major retail stores to agree to voluntary labelling.
• Lobbying of the SA government to sign the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol
• Success in forcing all of the major dairy producers to remove rBGH/ rBST, a GM hormone patented by Monsanto from milk production
• Monsanto is forced to drop its “GM is safe” advertising campaign

Most recent projects are:

• A national consumer labelling campaign to pressure the SA government / businesses to adopt people-sensitive food labelling regimes
• Consumer Protection Act General Regulations w.r.t. GMO's government submissions to represent public safety and environmental concerns w. r. t. GMO's and enforce stringent labelling regulations in CPA
• GM Foodwise Food list campaign to test off-the-shelf products and publish a list for public concerns
• Makhaza “let's get your hands dirty” Urban Gardening Project – Khayelitsha, Cape Town, to assist local impoverished communities to address their food insecurity status
• Campaign to adopt the IAASTD report on Agro-ecological farming practices by the Dept. of Agriculture and the SA government as a campaign to reject bio-technological fixes in support of agro-ecological farming practices
• Documentary film projects on the impact of GMO’s in South Africa to highlight the plight of the marginalized and create awareness around the dire impacts of GMO’s
• Documentary Film Club to create awareness & promote the SAFEAGE vision

These are all projects that are ongoing which may suffer if no funding can be raised shortly. Pending Projects are seed banks, establishment of people's / community / farmers' markets, media / journalist training course on GMO awareness, school awareness program, changing the school curriculum, establishment of a Food Justice Network, and a SAFEAGE Documentary Film Festival. If to continue to play a public watchdog role, SAFEAGE needs at least 150 supporters and members. Contact: Fahrie Hassan

SAFEAGE