Hungry Zambia rejects GM food aid, decision final
Date: 31-Oct-02
Country: ZAMBIA
Author: Shapi Shacinda
The government decided on the ban after a team of Zambian scientists conducted studies on GM foods, in the United States, Europe and South Africa, and reported that insufficient evidence was available to demonstrate their safety.
"The major recommendation of the study team of scientists is that government should maintain its earlier position not to accept GM foods in the country. Government has accepted this recommendation ... we will not allow GM foods in Zambia," Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana told a news conference.
Sikatana said he would advise the United Nations World Food Programme to remove 26,000 tonnes GM maize relief it had imported into Zambia from the United States without the government's authority.
Zambia, one of six southern African countries where some 14 million people are facing food shortages, rejected proposed donations of U.S.-sourced GM maize in August. It said it wanted its own scientists to explore the safety of transgenic foods.
The country's reluctance to take the GM maize, despite food shortages that the United Nations says affect around three million people, has brought Zambia to the centre of a worldwide debate over the safety of genetically altered foods.
Europeans are sceptical about agricultural biotechnology, and consumer opinion is inclined towards rejecting GM food, but the United States treats GM grains no differently from conventional crops and says they pose no threat.
NO MILLED MAIZE EITHER
Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi all expressed initial scepticism about taking GM maize donations, but later worked out compromise deals whereby they accepted maize only after it had been milled to ensure farmers could not plant the new varieties.
Sikatana said Zambia would not accept even milled GM maize relief. He said the country did not have suitable legislation to deal with GM foods and there was a risk of contamination of the local traditional crop varieties by GM strains.
"There is a risk of losing the export market if Zambia grows GM crops. In view of the current scientific uncertainty, the government (of Zambia) has decided to base its decision on the precautionary principle," Sikatana said.
Sikatana said Zambia would now look for non-GM maize from India, South Africa, Uganda and the United States.
He added that the World Bank had approved a $50 million credit to help Zambia import and distribute maize, and to provide water to drought-affected southern districts.
Aid agencies blame food shortages in the region on poor harvests caused by drought and political problems. The UN World Food Programme says 14.4 million people in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho are under threat.
The WFP appealed this week to international donors to provide seeds to the region to help avert a similar crisis next season. It said the window of opportunity to plant for the coming growing season was closing rapidly.
"If the international community doesn't act soon, that window will slam shut and consequently, the region will continue to suffer from lack of food in the coming year," the WFP said in a statement issued in Johannesburg.
