This briefing paper presents the status of genetically modified (GM) soya in South Africa. GM Soybean seed owned by Monsanto and genetically engineered to withstand the herbicide glyphosate, accounts for 90% of all soya bean production in South Africa.

Soya is now one of South Africa’s most important crops and has surpassed sunflower as the country’s major oilseed crop. In 2015/16 despite the crippling drought, South African farmers planted a record 687 000 ha of GM soybeans, yielding a harvest of over 1 million tons. It is expected that production will rise 1 million ha within a decade.

The majority of GM soya grown in South Africa is for the animal feed industry, though previous GM testing by the ACB has found GM soya in a variety of food products, including bread, breakfast cereals and soya mince.

The use of glyphosate in South African agriculture has increased dramatically since the introduction of GM crops, and the continued increase in cultivation of GM soya is likely to exacerbate this trend. Should local weed populations start developing resistance to glyphosate, as has happened elsewhere, South Africans can expect the introduction of GM soya varieties tolerant to combinations of more and more toxic chemicals such as 2,4 D and dicamba.