LUSAKA, 29th January 2024ARE WE BEING FED GENETICALLY MODIFIED MAIZE?
According to the Zambia National Service (ZNS) Commander, Lt. General Maliti Soloch, the answer is a resounding NO! He also urged Zambias to “trust the mealie meal labelled green, it is non-GMO…. It is high time we started having the culture of speaking the truth so that we can stand on integrity when we speak” (26thJanuary 2024). And during the weekly media engagement on the same day, Zambia’s Minister of Information and Media and Government spokesperson, Mr. Cornelius Mweetwa, refuted assertions by some sections of society that the government was importing and distributing mealie meal made from GMO maize through the ZNS. He reiterated that the maize being imported from South Africa is not for Zambia but for onward transmission into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
(https://www.facebook.com/share/p/HPYnxAfbHqnp17rp/?mibextid=2JQ9oc).
Members of the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) however, are still concerned about the importation of mealie meal made from GMO maize from South Africa into Zambia through the ZNS managed Eagle Milling Company, because the import permits accessed do not state that it is for onward export to the DRC, among other information lapses. It is difficult to reliably verify the statements above because Zambia’s profile is not up to date on the international Biosafety Clearing House where all decisions and risk assessments must be stored (Check https://bch.cbd.int/en/kb). Further, the address listed for the national database on the National Biosafety Authority’s (NBA’s) Facebook page has never worked. Thus, there is no complete public record of the activities and decisions of the NBA and related bodies. This makes public engagement impossible. The NBA is not managing to adhere to the most basic and minimal requirements of both international obligations under the Cartagena Protocol, or to the national Biosafety Act of 2007. According to Zambia’s Biosafety Act, the National Biosafety Authority is obliged to (amongst other things):
(a) Establish administrative mechanisms to ensure the appropriate handling, dissemination and storage of documents and data in connection with the processing of applications and notifications and other matters covered by this Act;
(b) Promote public awareness and education concerning the activities regulated under this Act, through the publication of guidance and other materials that explain and elaborate on the risk assessment, risk management and authorization processes;
(c) Establish and maintain a data base on genetically modified organisms and products of genetically modified organisms intended for direct use as food or feed, or for research and production processing and make available such information to the public.
What we have been able to ascertain from the publicly available information is that since 2009, authorities started allowing the import of some processed products that may contain GMOs (ZAAB 2022), including maize-based breakfast cereals and snacks, spices and pet food (NBA 2022).
According to the NBA, between 2016 and December 2019, “the NBA has granted 49 permits for import and placing on the market processed food and feed products, four research permits and issued four Non- GM clearance certificates for export” (NBA 2019). However, risk assessments and further details of these 49 decisions are not readily available.
Of great concern is the fact that a number of GM maize events have been deemed safe by the NBA and may be imported for the purpose of food, feed and processing. This means that bulk shipments of these particular events may come into the country in the form of whole or milled grain. Each import shipment must go through a permitting process, including public participation.
As of 2018, the following events have been given approval (as there is 5 years of missing data, there may be significantly more that we are unaware of):
In conclusion;
The ZAAB and many other members of the public are seriously concerned by the lack of any genuine efforts by the National Biosafety Authority (NBA) to prioritize and protect public interest. The frequent “Communications” of the NBA are biased towards promoting GM technology, whilst the basic human rights and access to meaningful information is not being fulfilled.
And the current issue of importation of GM maize meal from South Africa is a stark example of the lack of deliberate effort to provide correct and coherent information, labelling, and most critically meaningful public participation in ‘risk assessments’ and consideration of the social economic factors related to all matters of Biosafety and GMOs in Zambia and internationally.
We contend that Zambians are justified in asking questions. And those seeking the “truth” that the ZNS Commander alluded to should not be shut down and threatened with lawsuits, but rather be given full information, and directed to the sources of verification to completely eradicate these concerns.
