Zambia Says Won't Feed Refugees GM Milled Maize
Click
Here to Add Comment Subject:
Zambia Says Won't Feed Refugees GM Milled Maize
Date:
Tue, 17 Sep 2002 11:04:44 -0400
From:
Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization: Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)
To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide
Regulation
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Zambia says won't feed refugees GM milled maize
ZAMBIA: September 12, 2002
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/17727/story.htm
[Please visit the original website to view the whole article. - Mod.]
LUSAKA - Zambia will not allow the U.N World Food Programme (WFP) to feed thousands of Angolan and Congolese refugees on its soil with genetically modified (GM) milled maize, a top official said this week.
Aid workers say that up to 13 million people in six countries - including Zambia - face famine as a result of food shortages brought about by draught and poor management.
Zambia has repeatedly rejected GM food, mainly from the United States, out of concerns over its safety and the environmental consequences of GM grains being planted. Malawi and Zimbabwe have also expressed concerns over the issue.
But milled GM grain has been more widely accepted because it cannot be planted.
"There was about 6,804 tonnes in various (refugee) camps which will now be withdrawn and substituted with non-GM maize," Mapushi said.
Zambia is home to 288,000 refugees from Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region. The WFP feeds 130,000 of these refugees that are in designated refugee camps.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
If you would like to be included in our mailing list for continuing information on pesticides, please email us at list@safe2use.com.