UN food body issued GM food in Zambia despite ban
Date: 13-Nov-02
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Zoe Eisenstein
Zambia, one of six southern African countries facing severe food shortages, has been at the centre of a debate over the safety of GM foods after it banned biotech maize on October 29.
WFP spokesman Richard Lee said the agency fed U.S. maize to refugees in six camps in the first week of November because it did not have enough time to switch its U.S. maize stocks.
"Given the significant health concerns for the refugees and security concerns ... and there were no alternative stocks available ... we decided to conduct one further round of distributions," Lee told Reuters.
"This has all been done in consultation with the authorities. The maize is milled under very strict supervision in the camps and only non-GM stocks will be used from now on," Lee added.
Zambian officials were not available to comment.
The United States is a major supplier of food aid to southern Africa and a senior U.S. official said last week that about 30 percent of that food is biotech.
Zambia is home to 288,000 refugees from neighbouring Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region. The WFP feeds 110,000 of these refugees in designated camps.
The Lusaka government decided to ban gene-altered food aid after Zambian scientists concluded that insufficient evidence was available to demonstrate its safety.
Zambian officials also say they fear a risk of contamination of the local traditional crop varieties by GM strains, which could harm its exports.
The United States said it deeply regretted Zambia's decision, warning it would place its people at greater risk of starvation.
The WFP estimates about three million Zambians need emergency food aid. It will require about 21,500 tonnes of non-GM food aid this month to feed the Zambians and refugees. "It's going to be difficult this month in Zambia to reach all the beneficiaries we have targeted with non-GM foods, but hopefully we'll manage to get enough food in," Lee said.
Lee said the WFP was still in negotiations to divert about 15,000 tonnes of U.S. maize now in Zambia to other countries in southern Africa.
Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana has said Zambia would not accept GM maize relief even if the grain was milled to prevent planting that might lead to contamination of existing varieties.
