arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

JOHANNESBURG, 2 July (IRIN) - Zambia has joined Zimbabwe in expressing concern over accepting genetically modified (GM) food aid, while the country struggles to overcome food shortages threatening over two million people.

Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana told IRIN on Monday that Zambia would not import GM maize until the government was able to make a policy decision on the issue. The cabinet was not expected to discuss the matter until mid August.

"I alongside the minister of science have come up with a caution unless and until cabinet is consulted," Sikatana said. "Some European countries do not allow GM organisms. That adds to our fears. Such anxieties should not be taken lightly."

Zimbabwe, citing health concerns and the impact on its cattle exports to Europe, has a longstanding ban on GM imports. Last month it refused a 10,000 mt aid consignment of US-supplied GM maize. It has, however, agreed to accept maize meal made from GM grain, although the US government - the main supplier - does not provide for milling costs.

US ambassador to Zimbabwe, Joseph Sullivan, told IRIN: "We Americans eat genetically modified corn with no problems. We see no reason why it should present a problem to any other country. So for us to be able to be as helpful as we wish to be, it would be important for the government of Zimbabwe to waive this restriction and to allow us to supply the food that we do have available."

The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an urgent appeal to donors to provide food assistance to some 13 million people in Southern Africa threatened with starvation until next year's harvest.

WFP Regional Representative Judith Lewis said that the agency's position on GM food was that "it is an issue between the recipient government and the donor - the country providing the assistance. The World Food Programme accepts only food that has been cleared as fit for human consumption and we move that food".

She told IRIN that "technically Zimbabwe didn't say no" to GM maize. "They said they would prefer it to arrive milled or in a sealed container ... It's a tough one and we're morally challenged by decisions like these, but governments are sovereign entities".

GM technology involves taking genes from one organism and inserting them into another to improve yields by endowing them with specific characteristics, such as resistance to pests and herbicides. It is widely in use in the United States, Canada, and increasingly Argentina and China. But critics point to concerns over its safety, and the potential impact on the environment.

Food security NGOs in Zimbabwe have backed the government's position. Development Innovations and Networks (French acronym IRED), an agricultural think-tank, said that policies were not yet in place to govern the use of GM material and to protect farmers in the developing world. IRED director John Mwaniki told IRIN that GM crops can contaminate surrounding traditional varieties and could affect wildlife.

In response to those fears, implanted "terminator" technology was designed to prevent reproduction of GM seeds after the first harvest. However, that forces farmers to buy new seeds each year from the corporations that own the bio-technology, which has economic implications for the food security of poor farmers.

The United States is one of WFP's largest food donors. The GM maize on offer, which has been accepted by other Southern African countries facing food shortages, is for consumption rather than planting. But it is not accurately known what proportion of GM maize offered in the aid consignments could be propagated. Activists are concerned that farmers, who traditionally store seeds, could try and grow a portion of their relief supplies.

"The problem is precisely that not enough is known about what the implications would be and how it would affect traditional maize varieties and other hybrids," said Mutizwa Mukute, secretary-general of PELUM, a Harare-based regional ecological association. He alleged that the US government was taking advantage of the current food crisis to "dump" GM maize, unwanted by the US market.

Pattrice Le-Muire Jones, the coordinator of the US-based Global Hunger Alliance told IRIN: "In truth, the
real winners are the seed/agrochemical companies like Monsanto and the animal agriculture corporations like Tyson.

"While we are all working on long-term solutions to hunger and malnutrition, people are hungry right now ... In those instances, some form of food aid is needed. The question is: which form? In situations where there is an absolute lack of food in a region, I would prefer for donors such as the USA to use relief funds to purchase healthy foods from low-income farmers in the region," he said.