Gripped by severe food shortages, with a potentially vast famine looming, the Zimbabwean authorities have rejected a United States government donation of 10 000 tonnes of maize, worth $6-million, because it has not been certified as free from genetic modification.
But the decision was not another example of President Robert Mugabe protesting at Western imperialism. It was taken to protect Zimbabwe’s own crop and its ability to export certified hybrid maize seed throughout Africa.
Despite widespread hunger, Zimbabwe refused the shipment because it came in the form of whole kernels that, if used as seed, could spread genetically modified (GM) strains across the country.
As there are also food shortages in nearby countries, the delivery of whole-maize kernels was diverted to Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi.
Agricultural experts in Harare said the rejection of the maize should not be viewed as a petulant act. The country’s farmers feel that GM kernels could threaten Zimbabwe’s production of hybrid maize. If Zimbabwe’s maize were altered by GM crops planted nearby, it could lose its certification. US maize in the form of fine-ground meal cannot be used as seed, and has been accepted by Zimbabwe.
The US-funded Famine Early Warning System Network estimates that nearly a quarter of Zimbabwe’s 12,5-million people are facing hunger.
That number is expected to grow in the coming months to seven million, according to a study by the United Nations World Food Programme.
The programme and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation say about 10-million people in four African countries are at risk of starvation in the worst food shortages in a decade.