Zambia should not reject GM corn when millions are starving

The Zambian government�s decision to reject a FREE donation of genetically modified corn _ at a time when millions of Zambians are facing starvation _ is not only incredible but also sad indeed. That the corn is from United States is irrelevant. That genetically modified foods are part of the daily menu throughout the world is also not important. Even the fact that Industry and environmental groups estimate that 70 percent of processed foods on supermarket shelves contain some genetically engineered components should not come to play.

What is of importance is how the Zambian government will ensure that its population will not starve. From President Mwanawasa to Information Minister Newstead Zimba, the Zambian government officials have said genetically modified corn is not safe. Yet, none of them can produce any scientific study to back those statements. Mwanawasa admits: "There is no scientific proof that genetically modified maize is good for our health or not." Yet he told the Zambia Daily Mail that he was just being cautious.

How can the Zambian government officials say they are being cautious about the health of the people or the long-term effects of genetically modified corn when that type of corn is already in the region? Lesotho, Malawi and Swaziland have accepted the donation of genetically modified corn and their people are consuming it. South Africa, which provides most of imported foods in Zambia, is growing genetically modified corn on its farms.

To quote a Zambian scientist, �The result will be that the Government will reject GM corn from USA only to buy GM corn from South Africa. Given the same corn in two different containers some of these scientists are not even able to tell whether they are the same or different.�

Zambia is a hunger crisis even as Mwanawasa claims that the crisis is exaggerated. There is a severe shortage of corn _ the main staple food in Zambia _ and yet he says the crisis is exaggerated. Must people die or show up as skeletons on BBC or CNN for him to realize that there is a food crisis in Zambia? Why should Zambia let the people die of hunger, just because someone who gets a free meal says the corn is not safe, without even testing it?

Every day, Zambians are succumbing to the AIDS/HIV, an epidemic which every doctor will tell you is compounded by poverty. However, there is a colonial side to this story. The decision to reject the genetically modified maize was not made in Zambia. The whole decision was made in Europe. Critics of the genetically modified in Europe are also keeping Africans from growing their own foods. The European Union has been asking African governments who want to do trade in Europe to treat genetically modified crops as serious threat to rural biological safety. Robert Paarlberg, author of Politics of Precaution: Genetically Modified Crops in Developing Countries, says European donors are helping African government grow more regulations instead of helping hungry Africans to grow more food.

Hence, the Zambian government rejected donations to feed its starving people sorely because if it lost its GM-free status, its exports of poultry and dairy products to Europe would suffer. Therefore, instead of telling the Zambians that GM corn was not safe, Mwanawasa and his henchmen should just admit that Zambia is more concerned about losing accessibility to the European market than about feeding the Zambian people. By succumbing to the Europeans� demands, Zambia has no choice but to reject the GM corn donation from the United States. Moreover, Europe claims one more victory over the United States in this agricultural cold war. But try telling that to the starving Zambians in Gwembe Valley, Kashikishi, Mporokoso, Zambezi and the streets of Lusaka, Ndola and Kitwe.