Zimbabwe, suffering a prolonged drought and on the verge of famine, has turned down thousands of tons of emergency food from the US because it includes genetically modified corn that the government, headed by President Robert Mugabe, does not want to accept.
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The shipment of food has been diverted to other countries, and a second shipment is expected to be turned away when it arrives in a few days’ time.
Some critics have commented that the government of a nation with half of its 12 million residents on the brink of starvation is in no position to take such a high and mighty stance, but others feel Zimbabwe has good reason to reject the corn. If any of the corn seeds were sown instead of eaten, it is highly likely that the resulting pollen would contaminate other fields. This would result in Zimbabwe being unable to export its corn to nations that restrict import of GM food. This includes much of the European Union, for example. As corn is a major export for Zimbabwe, this is a justified concern.
Several experts have called on the US to mill the corn kernels before they ship them to Zimbabwe. This costs some US$25 per metric tonne – a significant expense for a poor nation like Zimbabwe. However, it is not the policy of US food agencies to cover milling expenses, reported the Washington Post.
Critics feel the US is using Zimbabwe’s food crisis to get GM crops into the region by the back door.
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By GlobalDataThe Zimbabwean government, which for decades has supported the development of corn varieties suited to local ecosystems, is concerned not only about genetic contamination, but also about intellectual property issues. Pending changes in international trade rules, backed by the US, could preclude farmers from saving the patented seeds from biotech harvests for replanting in following years, a practice vital to many subsistence farmers who cannot afford to buy new seed every year, explained the report in the Post.
The corn rejected by Zimbabwe was re-shipped to Malawi, which as yet has no clear policy on GE food.
The frustration of the aid agency is easy to understand. After all, the corn is good enough for consumers in the US, and surely hungry people in Zimbabwe will be horrified to learn that food aid is being turned away. However, Mugabe’s position is also straightforward. Pollen drift is a problem, and the milling costs would not, it might be assumed, be an impossible weight for the US agency to bear.
