INTERVIEW - Regional GM food schism delays food aid to Africa
Date: 01-Oct-02
Country: ANGOLA
Author: Manoah Esipisu
Prega Ramsamy, CEO and Executive Secretary of the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), told Reuters in Angola the absence of a clearly defined regional response to genetically modified (GM) food relief was a serious problem.
"The absence of a harmonised regional position on GMOs is creating operational problems with regard to movement of food and non-food items which may contain GMOs. This is particularly serious given the current humanitarian crisis," Ramsamy said.
"The food crisis in southern Africa remains a grave concern to all of us. What SADC has been urging member countries to do is to accept milled GMOs, but of course each government must make its own choice," added the Botswana-based Ramsamy.
Ramsamy, in Angola for the annual SADC summit starting this week, said the issue would be high on the agenda. Foreign and trade ministers were gathering in the capital Luanda for the meetings which Angola hopes will showcase its return to peace after a costly civil war.
Angola faces severe food problems of its own because of its 27-year war. But is not listed by the United Nations among the six southern African countries worst hit by shortages which analysts blame on capricious weather and poor food management.
Around 13 million people in the region are facing severe food shortages, which could persist for the next seven months at least, and urgently require 1.2 million tonnes of cereals if famine is to be averted, SADC food security experts said.
Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique say they accept milled GM food relief, but Zambia has completely outlawed GM relief and says it is working on non-GM commercial imports to plug its food gap. Lesotho and Swaziland, the other countries facing food shortages, have not said whether they readily accept GM relief.
Ramsamy said SADC's council of ministers would create an advisory committee to develop guidelines to safeguard members against potential risks in the areas of food safety, contamination of genetic resources, and consumer concerns.
SADC officials said that committee could meet as early as next week. Zambian officials said they were pressing for conclusive research on GM-foods before they could be allowed.
The spread of AIDS in the region had compounded the food misery.
"Healthcare workers emphasised the lethal combination of hunger and HIV - how the convergence of the two calamities sharply increases people's vulnerability to infection and disease," Ramsamy said.
Africa is the continent hit hardest by AIDS.
The SADC groups South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Tanzania, Seychelles, Mauritius and Malawi.
