New hope over GM food aid controversy

The Zimbabwe government has agreed to accept a consignment of genetically modified (GM) maize from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), after weeks of controversy. The government had come under fire for rejecting GM maize, amid fears that acceptance of the grain could jeopardise its own crops and its European export market where GM food is strictly controlled. The United States, the largest donor to the World Food Programme (WFP), had insisted that it could only send food aid that included GM maize to help the country, and added that GM maize was widely accepted in America. In May the Zimbabwe government turned down a similar consignment, in spite of a warning from a WFP and Food and Agriculture Organisation assessment that six million people risked starvation. That consignment was diverted to Malawi. Zimbabwe has a long-standing policy against GM food on the grounds of human safety, and the potential threat that GM crop contamination could pose for the local environment. But US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Walter Kansteiner told the web news service Allafrica.com on Thursday the USAID maize had been accepted. Heather Lippitt, spokeswoman for the US embassy in Harare, told IRIN that she understood that this was on condition the maize was milled. A series of meetings had been underway since Monday to discuss who would mill the maize and where it would be milled, she said. Judy Moon, spokeswoman for the US Embassy in South Africa, where the ship carrying the latest maize consignment had berthed this week, said: "Fifty percent of food aid comes from the US and nobody else can make up the difference." She added that milling the maize in the United States would raise the overall cost of the consignment and would shorten its shelf life. The latest US $16 million aid shipment of 36,000 mt of emergency food was meant to help 2.4 million people for a month. Besides Zimbabwe, Lesotho would also receive a consignment. Jaco Nel of Boss Logistics, the contractor who would transport the maize to Zimbabwe said: "We are ready to go, we're just waiting for the word." Pedro Figueiredo, WFP regional logistics manager explained that to avoid delays in deliveries to countries where GM food was a problem, non-GM stocks had been redeployed. So far, Lesotho, Malawi, and Swaziland were accepting GM maize. However, Zambia, which had previously accepted, had now also expressed caution. "It is necessary to examine the maize before we can give it to our people and I'm certain if it is found to be safe then we will give it, but if it is not then we would rather starve than get something toxic," President Levy Mwanawasa recently told the satellite news service, Sky News. Zambian permanent secretary for information, David Kashweka, told IRIN: "Our position on genetically modified foods is that they should not be allowed to be consumed in the country without knowing fully the implications and consequences thereof. The government is yet to finalise the policy on genetically modified organisms in the country vis-à-vis imports or growing of such materials." Khazila Chinsembu, lecturer in molecular biology at the University of Zambia said: "We need to take precautions because we haven't done a risk assessment here yet. The most important point is that we need legislation in place in case there are disputes in the future. "People need to have a choice. Even in the US genetically modified food is labelled so people can choose. Here we have no choice, which is morally wrong." He said there was no consensus on GM within the scientific community and most Zambians were not yet aware of the safety concerns. He added there was concern the GM maize could contain a terminator gene which could pollute natural varieties. Eighty percent of Zambia's maize is produced by small-scale farmers, many of whom hold a portion of their seed over for planting for the following year. If GM seed germinated, that could raise legal implications of patent right violations of the biotech companies that "own" the seed technology.