GMO Products Spread in SADC - Study

GENETICALLY Modified Organism products and seed are fast spreading into most Southern African countries which lack the technological capacity to screen and detect GMOs, a new study has revealed.

A preliminary GMO Spread Survey report done by the Biotechnology Trust of Zimbabwe in collaboration with the Community Technology Development Trust, Tobacco Research Board and other research institutes in Zambia, Namibia and Swaziland even shows areas where GM crops are suspected to be grown.

The 12-month GMO Spread Survey was done in five Southern African countries that included Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe between January andDecember 2006.

Sources said the survey was conducted to identify potentially modified products in these selected countries and to identify modes and mechanisms of entry as well as distribution of GMOs in these five countries.

A total of 229 questionnaires were distributed and survey responses of about 27 percent were achieved mostly from experts in the field of biotechnology.

"The results obtained from this survey are preliminary and should not be generalised for countries where the survey was done. Rather these are the views of the respondents.

"These results, though, are indicative of the situation in the region and give a reflection of the population," the GMO Spread Survey preliminary report stated.

The major concern cited in all the countries under the study was human health and safety (30 percent), followed by fear of contamination of indigenous resources by GMOs (26 percent).

About 10 percent of the respondents were worried that GMOs would be used to undermine the country's economic and political sovereignty while 5 percent were concerned at the lack of policy to regulate biotechnology.

The report noted that a higher percentage of responses, on a country basis, were from Zambia and Malawi where advocacy work was stronger than other countries.

Suspected GMO products in the five countries included maize, cotton and soyabean, livestock feed, tobacco, bananas, potatoes, poultry products and vegetables.

The majority of respondents (38 percent) believed maize contributed most to GMO products followed by cotton (13 percent), livestock feed (9 percent) and soyabean (8 percent).

Malawi indicated a higher percentage for yellow maize (17 percent) with equal distribution of (14 percent) for potatoes, white maize and livestock feed.

Zambia had a high percentage for white maize (19 percent), yellow maize (15 percent) and an equal distribution of 10 percent for poultry products, soyabean and cotton.

Zimbabwe had an almost equal distribution of yellow maize (21 percent), white maize (21 percent) and cotton 19 percent.

The report noted that there is no distinction between yellow and white maize despite the fact that South Africa, the identified source of maize food aid, targeted yellow maize for GMO production.

Most African countries still have reservations about genetically modified foods and seeds (GMOs) and only a few countries allow them legally despite having no capacity to prevent their spread.

South Africa has embraced GMOs and as the region's strongest economy, scientists say it could be the portal for them entering the rest of the continent -- no matter what individual nations may do, industry watchers and activists say.

In the five countries under the GMO Spread Survey, locations where suspected GMO plants are believed to be grown were those mostly under research and food aid recipient locations in addition to border areas.

In Zambia, suspected areas where GM crops are grown included the Southern, Eastern, Central and Western provinces and points where aid is distributed and refugee camps.

In Zimbabwe, food aid-receiving districts along border areas and research areas were identified as suspected GMO prevalent areas.

In Malawi, research stations were identified as possible growing areas.

"If contamination by transgenic crops is a possibility then there is need to assess the level of contamination and identify contaminated areas," researchers suggested in the report.

"The assessments need to be followed up by constant monitoring of the surrounding regions to minimise and control gene flow from transgenic crops to the indigenous varieties. This will assist the control and regulation of any transgenic material present in the region."