Zambia maintains stance against GM foods

LUSAKA – Zambia maintains that it will not allow genetically modified foods to enter its territory despite shortages, as biotech foods are not yet scientifically proved to be suitable for human consumption.

Chance Kabaghe, deputy agriculture minister, said genetically modified food has been banned from being distributed in the poor southern African country, which is largely dependent on Western food aid. “The position of Zambia on GM foods has not changed.We still feel that the country is not ready to accept genetically modified foods without proper research on its effects,” Kabaghe told AFP.Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa told delegates at the UN Earth Summit in Johannesburg in September 2002, that despite starvation, he would not expose his people to “poisonous” food.”Simply because my people are hungry, there is no justification to give them poison, to give them food that is intrinsically dangerous to their health,” he said at the time.During 2002, Zambia rejected about 27 000 tonnes of transgenic food aid donated by the US government to feed nearly one quarter of Zambia’s population of 10,4 million people, who were struggling to cope with hunger caused by a prolonged drought.The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in Zambia, responsible for relief food aid distribution, said the lesson learnt from the GM controversy was that countries should have an up-date policy on biotech food on file.”WFP’s job is to ensure that the hungry get food and it works within the parameters set up by the national government.It is not for us to say whether a government’s decision is justified or not as long as people do not go hungry,” said Sibi Lawson, a WFP spokeswoman in Zambia.By the time Mwanawasa announced the ban on the GM foods, some transgenic grain had already been distributed to various parts of the country to the poor.The withdrawal of the food caused sporadic riots and Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana accused western donors of “promoting food riots in order to force Zambia to accept GM maize.”The WFP withdrew the GM food aid and replaced it with non-GM relief food that was donated mainly by the European Union, which stepped in to help thousands of starving Zambians.”WFP policy is to respect the position of the country it is working in,” Lawson told AFP.”If the country prefers no GM food, we do not send in GM food.Additionally, we only accept food that has been cleared by the health authorities of the donor country as fit for human consumption,” she said.But the Zambian government still feels there is no scientific evidence to prove that GM food is suitable for human consumption and the environment.Mwanawasa, who had just returned from the US, decided to send local scientists to several western countries to study whether GM food was suitable for human consumption before he could make a decision on the matter.By October 2002, the Zambian scientists recommended that the country should maintain its position because of the “uncertainty surrounding GM foods and their effects on human and animal health and the environment.””Government accordingly accepted the recommendation by scientists that we should not accept GM foods in the country,” Kabaghe said.”In future, we would appreciate assistance as a country (which deals) with non-GM foods,” he added.Some commercial farmers in Zambia also rejected biotech foods being brought in, saying they could lose their market to the European Union, which accounts for 53 percent of Zambian exports and operates under strict guidelines on GM food.Another controversy emerged after the Zambian government discovered that about 130 000 refugees living in camps in the country were being fed with GM food because there was no non-GM food for them.”The position of government rejecting GM food was a national one which applies to all categories of persons living in Zambia.This applies to refugees, including those living in camps,” Mwanawasa said in 2002.The Zambian government was currently working on legislation that would regulate biotech food and its safety, which is expected to be presented to parliament later this year.- Nampa-AFP”The position of Zambia on GM foods has not changed.We still feel that the country is not ready to accept genetically modified foods without proper research on its effects,” Kabaghe told AFP.Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa told delegates at the UN Earth Summit in Johannesburg in September 2002, that despite starvation, he would not expose his people to “poisonous” food.”Simply because my people are hungry, there is no justification to give them poison, to give them food that is intrinsically dangerous to their health,” he said at the time.During 2002, Zambia rejected about 27 000 tonnes of transgenic food aid donated by the US government to feed nearly one quarter of Zambia’s population of 10,4 million people, who were struggling to cope with hunger caused by a prolonged drought.The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) in Zambia, responsible for relief food aid distribution, said the lesson learnt from the GM controversy was that countries should have an up-date policy on biotech food on file.”WFP’s job is to ensure that the hungry get food and it works within the parameters set up by the national government.It is not for us to say whether a government’s decision is justified or not as long as people do not go hungry,” said Sibi Lawson, a WFP spokeswoman in Zambia.By the time Mwanawasa announced the ban on the GM foods, some transgenic grain had already been distributed to various parts of the country to the poor.The withdrawal of the food caused sporadic riots and Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana accused western donors of “promoting food riots in order to force Zambia to accept GM maize.”The WFP withdrew the GM food aid and replaced it with non-GM relief food that was donated mainly by the European Union, which stepped in to help thousands of starving Zambians.”WFP policy is to respect the position of the country it is working in,” Lawson told AFP.”If the country prefers no GM food, we do not send in GM food.Additionally, we only accept food that has been cleared by the health authorities of the donor country as fit for human consumption,” she said.But the Zambian government still feels there is no scientific evidence to prove that GM food is suitable for human consumption and the environment.Mwanawasa, who had just returned from the US, decided to send local scientists to several western countries to study whether GM food was suitable for human consumption before he could make a decision on the matter.By October 2002, the Zambian scientists recommended that the country should maintain its position because of the “uncertainty surrounding GM foods and their effects on human and animal health and the environment.””Government accordingly accepted the recommendation by scientists that we should not accept GM foods in the country,” Kabaghe said.”In future, we would appreciate assistance as a country (which deals) with non-GM foods,” he added.Some commercial farmers in Zambia also rejected biotech foods being brought in, saying they could lose their market to the European Union, which accounts for 53 percent of Zambian exports and operates under strict guidelines on GM food.Another controversy emerged after the Zambian government discovered that about 130 000 refugees living in camps in the country were being fed with GM food because there was no non-GM food for them.”The position of government rejecting GM food was a national one which applies to all categories of persons living in Zambia.This applies to refugees, including those living in camps,” Mwanawasa said in 2002.The Zambian government was currently working on legislation that would regulate biotech food and its safety, which is expected to be presented to parliament later this year.- Nampa-AFP