JOHANNESBURG, South Africa September 2, 2002 (ENS) - Drought and famine stricken nations in southern Africa should not reject donations of genetically modified food, officials from the United States, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization are urging.

Their pleas come in response to recent decisions by Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe to reject offers of U.S. aid due to concerns about biotechnology.

Speaking at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Dr. Jacques Diouf, director-general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said that 13 million people are estimated to be in urgent need of food assistance in coming months to avoid widespread starvation in the region.

Hungry boy in Zambia (Photo courtesy IFRC)

Countries in Southern Africa whose populations are facing a devastating multi-year drought should carefully consider current scientific knowledge before rejecting food aid containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), said Diouf.

But a coalition of public interest and environmental groups organized by the Minneapolis based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy is urging a boycott of GM foods from the United States.

Last week, critics of U.S. food aid that includes genetically modified foods released a letter at the summit signed by 126 groups from around the world in "solidarity with southern African nations" in rejecting crops altered with biotechnology.

"We encourage governments and people around the world to initiate a boycott of genetically modified food products from the United States to demonstrate support not only for southern African nations who are being used as political pawns in a dire situation, but to show support for all the countries of the world that have been threatened with trade sanctions by the United States for regulating or labeling genetically modified foods," the letter states.

But respected health officials who are not from the United States say genetically modified foods are safe. In late August, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland told a meeting of health ministers from 10 southern African countries that, based on current scientific knowledge and information from a variety of sources, the consumption of foods containing genetically modified organisms being provided as food aid in southern Africa is not likely to present human health risks.

Gro Harlem Brundtland is a physician, and a former Prime Minister of Norway. She headed the 1987 Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development that popularized the term sustainable development. (Photo courtesy WHO)

"WHO is not aware of scientifically documented cases in which the consumption of these foods has had negative human health effects," she said at the meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. "These foods may therefore be eaten."

Brundtland was attending a meeting of senior WHO officials and regional health ministers to discuss the growing food crisis in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where as many as 14 million people face severe food shortages over the next six months.

Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have rejected donations of genetically modified maize (corn) and other commodities containing GM ingredients, and contracted with agencies and nations for shipments of non-GM food.

Zambian Information and Broadcasting Minister Newstead Zimba announced on national television August 16 that government will not allow importation of genetically modified maize. "We wish to inform the nation that as a government we have taken into consideration the scientific advice about the long term effects of the [genetically modified foods] and all related grains, and we are rejecting it."

"All genetically modified foods, including the maize grain already in the country, should not and will not be consumed or distributed," Zimba said.

Still, Dr. Brundtland told the health ministers that although WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have not undertaken any formal assessment of genetically modified foods, the two organizations are confident that the principal country of origin, the United States, had applied established national food safety risk assessment procedures.

"We know, for example, that GM foods are eaten by people in other regions: these foods are no less safe for people here in Africa than they are for people who eat them in other parts of the world," Brundtland said.

She recognized that the ultimate responsibility and decision regarding the acceptance and distribution of food aid containing genetically modified organisms rests with the governments concerned.

"The WHO believes that in the current crisis, governments of countries in southern Africa must consider carefully the severe and immediate consequences of limiting the food aid that is made available for the millions of people so desperately in need," Brundtland warned.

Zimbabweans in small rural communities, like the northern town of Chidobe, are particularly exposed to the country's massive food shortages. Six million Zimbabweans are without enough food. (Photo © WFP/Richard Lee)

Many African officials are concerned that GM crops and food products have not undergone adequate testing to ensure that they are safe for human consumption. People with allergies fear that the altered proteins in GM foods may trigger their allergic reactions.

As some food aid is provided in the form of seed for future crops, some nations are also concerned about the potential for genes from GM crops to spread into native seed stocks, and the potential for native farmers to become dependent on biotechnology companies for additional patented GM seed.

Dr. Diouf recognizes concerns about potential risks to biological diversity and sustainable agriculture. In the specific case of maize, which is known for its propensity to outcross, governments could consider using techniques such as milling or heat treatment to avoid inadvertent introduction of genetically modified seed, he said.

In its letter circulated at the summit, the coalition of 126 groups accused the United States - source of most of the genetically modified food aid - of using "coercive techniques" to introduce GM crops into African nations.

"The United States' Department of State is clearly using emergency food aid shipments for starving people in southern Africa as a political tool to force acceptance of genetically modified foods," the letter states.

"This exploitative policy makes it clear that the United States is not interested in staving off famine. The United States is forcing the people of southern African nations to accept genetically modified food aid or risk widespread starvation, and has been unwilling to listen to the legitimate concerns."

The United States has responded to the food crisis in southern Africa by pledging almost 500,000 metric tons of food aid, much of which includes GM foods that are produced and consumed in the United States.

Food aid "provides a handy market for dumping grain not wanted elsewhere," the coalition's letter continues, "and is a thinly disguised attempt to pollute the sub continent's grain stocks with patented genetically modified varieties."

The groups, which include the Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security in India, the South Australian Genetic Food Information Network, the Green Association for Environmental Action in China and the African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs in Ghana, among others, seek a global boycott of GM food products from the United States.

The letter urged government officials meeting at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, to reject any declarations that assert that GM foods will be a solution to world hunger.

Andrew Natsios is administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Photo courtesy USAID)

Andrew Natsios, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), visited Zambia and Malawi on his way to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. While he was in Zambia with a delegation of humanitarian relief experts, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa informed Natsios that his nation would not accept GM food aid.

In an interview with a State Department staff writer late last month, Natsios charged that small advocacy groups from developed nations - but not from the United States - have launched a campaign of disinformation regarding the risks of GM foods.

"It's very disturbing to me that some groups have chosen a famine to make a political point," Natsios said. "I have never seen, in my 30 years of public service, such disinformation and intellectual dishonesty."

"I think it's appalling," Natsios added. "It's frightening people into thinking that there is something wrong with the food, and the consequence is that it's slowing the famine relief effort down in a very disturbing way."

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman echoed Natsios' sentiments in a statement from Washington DC.

"Our ability to deliver desperately needed food has been greatly hindered by individuals and organizations that are opposed to biotechnology and who are providing misguided statements about the U.S. food system," Veneman said.

"It is disgraceful that instead of helping hungry people, these individuals and organizations are embarking on an irresponsible campaign to spread misinformation and create an atmosphere of fear, which has led countries in dire need of food to turn away safe, wholesome food," she said.

Veneman noted that the latest figures from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project that 13 million people are on the brink of starvation in southern Africa, and current food aid pledges will meet only a quarter of the anticipated need.

"Now is not the time to inflame the debate about biotechnology," Veneman said. "Now is the time to feed starving people," she said, noting that the food the U.S. has donated is no different from what most Americans eat every day.

"The U.S. regulatory process ensures that people around the world have access to a safe, reliable food supply," Veneman argued.

However, many of the groups that signed the letter supporting African concerns about GM foods are American, and there is considerable concern within the United States regarding the safety of GM crops, both for human consumption and for the environment.

In fact, a May 2002 report by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted that genetically engineered crops have not lived up to their economic promise. Most of these crops cost more to plant, an impact that is supposed to be offset by increased yields and a reduced need for pesticide applications.

But according to the May report, in some cases, particularly herbicide resistant soybeans, GM crops actually yield a lower harvest than their conventional counterparts. Other GM crops have been shown to require more pesticides - not less.

"Perhaps the biggest issue raised by these results is how to explain the rapid adoption of GE crops when farm financial impacts appear to be mixed or even negative," the report states.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved.