Zambia says aid maize has pest
2002-12-27 15:47
Lusaka, Zambia - The Zambian government, which already has refused to accept genetically modified food aid, has accused the World Food Programme of distributing maize contaminated by an unidentified pest.
The WFP, which co-ordinate most international relief efforts in the country, denied on Friday it had imported any tainted maize into the country.
A government inspection committee cleared the shipment for distribution, issuing a certificate showing it was uncontaminated, WFP spokesperson Sibi Lawson said.
"Our maize is free of any infection," she said,
Agriculture officials have said the WFP maize contained a strange pest they had never seen before.
Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana said on Thursday the government had rejected the maize, an assertion the WFP denies.
"As far as government is concerned, we rejected that consignment of maize and have nothing to do with it," Sikatana said.
The spat comes several months after Zambia rejected donations of genetically modified maize from the United States saying it had questions over the food's safety.
An estimated 2.9 million Zambians, nearly 30% of the population, are in danger of starvation in the coming months.
Larger grain borer
Meanwhile, hundreds of bags of unfumigated maize were being brought into the country by traders coming from Tanzania.
According to the Zambia nformation Service, people on bicycles were carrying 120kg bags of the maize to warehouses in the northern town of Chiyanga.
The bags inspected were reported to be clearly tainted with insects believed to be the larger grain borer, which can ravage maize stocks.
Agriculture authorities said they were planning to raid the warehouses in the border town to inspect the maize.
The earliest confirmed sighting of the pest in Zambia was in the same area in 1993. Since then, it has spread to other areas of the nation.
- Sapa-AP
- SAPA