Disease 'caused by food aid'

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Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said food aid "dumped" by developed nations had undermined food safety on the African continent, state radio reported on Monday.

In remarks made at the start of a UN-sponsored food safety and security conference, Mugabe blamed weak food security controls and unpredictable droughts for threatening regional food security and triggering the spread of diseases, the report said.

These challenges were compounded by the HIV/Aids pandemic, a rise in unregulated food vending practices, the influx of new food from new food technologies and the dumping of food from the developed world under programmes of food aid, he was reported as saying.

Mugabe's government has refused to appeal for international food aid this year, despite warnings from aid agencies that more than a quarter of the country's 11.6 million people could face hunger by next March.

In May, the state-controlled Sunday Mail claimed that 4 000 tonnes of corn soya blend brought into the country under the UN World Food Programme (WFP) last year was contaminated.

Mugabe told 170 delegates from 47 African countries attending Monday's conference his country was willing to work with others on a food safety framework, according to the report.

The conference, due to end on Thursday, has been organised by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In a joint statement, the two agencies said food- and waterborne diseases accounted for some 700 000 deaths in Africa each year - one third of the global death toll from food-related illnesses.

Zimbabwe is facing its fourth consecutive year of food shortages.

The government blames the situation on drought, but critics say a controversial land reform programme that has seen thousands of white-owned farms handed over to new black farmers is also to blame.

Sapa-dpa

- SAPA