ZAMBIA and other countries in Southern Africa have been drawn into a controversy over the Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) food as to weather it should be accepted for human consumption or not.

The Zambian Government took a bold decision in August 2002 to reject the GMO food from the United States at a time when the country was hit by severe drought.

Government's stance in rejecting the GMO food was received with mixed feelings from both non-governmental organisation (NGOs) and opposition political parties.

One of the major points on the GMO crop debate has been the question of the potential risks associated with this modern biotechnology.

The other issue noted in the debate is that both sides supporting or against the GMOs have acknowledged that the technology was not risk free.

However, there is a disagreement over the extent to which "potential risks" are likely to become "actual" risks.

The Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM) held a regional conference on genetic engineering and sustainable agriculture at Holiday Inn in Lusaka to create a platform for both the pro and anti GMOs factions to debate the issue effectively.

PAM executive director Drinah Nyirenda said many technologies had been developed in agriculture to ensure food security, but in developing countries the technology had mixed success for a variety of reasons.

She said for a food technology to qualify, it must satisfy the food adequacy, security and safety criteria.

Science, Technology and Vocational Training Minister, Judith Kapijimpanga challenged scientists from the two factions to continue with their research in order to give accurate information to the farmers and consumers for them to make informed decisions.

The minister also challenged the media to report accurately in order to give the public enough information for them to make informed decisions on what they should grow and consume.

Mrs Kapijimpanga said Government with the help of the Norwegian government had released K900 million to rehabilitate a national referral laboratory at Mount Makulu Research Centre in Chilanga to be used for certifying GMO foods.

She said Government had rejected GMOs because the country did not have enough equipment and manpower to assess and monitor them in the country.

Mrs Kapijimpanga said the ministry was working on legislation to facilitate implementation of a policy in biotechnology and biosafety.

Transport and Communication Minister who is the former minister of Science, Technology and Vocational Training, Abel Chambeshi at the closure of the conference urged all scientist from the two factions to confine their research to the laboratory until a time when they were through with their findings in order to avoid misleading the public on the safety and harm of the technology.

Zambia Consumers Association (ZACA) executive director, Muyunda Ililonga expressed concern at the two factions of scientists who were differing on the safety of the GMO food.

He said consumers had a right to know the kind of food they were eating.

However, he praised Government for taking a bold decision in rejecting the GMOs despite pressure from some donors.

Mr Ililonga said in order for the consumers to make a right choices they should be availed with all the necessary information on the issue other than long debates that were not paying any dividends.

He urged scientist from both sides to come up with one conclusive report that would guide the nation in order for them to make informed choices.

Institute for Responsible Technology executive director, Jeffrey Smith said research conducted in Europe and America showed that the more people learned about GMOs the less they trusted them.

He said the key difference between Europe's rejection of GMOs food and US acceptance has been the level of consumer awareness shaped by the media.

Mr Smith noted that media reports in Europe about GMOs had generated so much consumer concern.

In contrast, US media mostly avoid the topic and as a result, most Americans believe they have never eaten GM foods. In reality they eat GM ingredients in almost every meal.

Mr Smith said the facts about GMO crops make them difficult to promote. He said they have no perceived consumer benefits adding that they may irreversibly damaged the environment.

He said there was mounting evidence of dangerous health effects associated with the modern technology.

He said biotech companies have spent hundreds of dollars to project a one sided debate, often with false account of the benefits.

An agriculture consultant Bernadette Lubozya explained that biotechnology was not entirely new as it was used before in the beer fermentation process which mankind had been using for a long time.

She said new processes such as the tissue culture; cloning and genetic engineering had been brought into being which has caused great concern to farmers.

Ms Lubozya said it was strongly held among farmers that GMOs ought to come with a clear process of technology transfer, which was regrettably the case with the new technology.

There is also much debate on the definition of what constitutes potential risks to human health or the environment from GM crop.

Some NGOs such as the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) praised Government on the decision it took in rejecting the commodity while others have criticised Government's stance on the issue.

JCTR director Fr. Peter Henriot commended Government for refusing to accept the GMO food from USA even at a time when the country was in dire need of relief food.

He said GMO food does not only compromise human health and environmental degradation but was also against human ethics as it was the manipulation of nature.

Some of the arguments advanced by Government when rejecting the commodity were that the country had not yet completed the process of developing a national policy on the genetic engineering of food.

The other fear raised was that if GMOs were introduced in the country, they would contaminate other crops, a situation that may lead to the ban of Zambia's farm products export on the European market which is currently the major buyer of farm products.

But some scientists maintained that GMOs could reduce the food insecurity that had hit the nation as a result of the drought that was experienced in the country.

Contrary to the above arguments, A lecturer from the school of Natural Science at the University of Zambia (UNZA), doctor Luke Mumba said GM technology should be allowed in the country as it had the potential to reduce food insecurity.

Dr Mumba said GMOs debate tended to confuse many African policy makers and sections of the public because of lack of reliable information and guidance available to groups.

He said there was an increasing uncertainty and confusion in many African governments' response wide range of issues associated with the development and application of modern technology.

He observed that this was likely to deny African countries opportunities to derive benefits while at the same time minimising risks from the technology.

Dr Mumba said the Zambian population was increasing at a fast rate adding that in order to feed the increased number the nation should embrace GM technology.

He said small-scale farmers alone couldn't produce enough food to feed the ever-increasing population in Zambia.

He said farmers that were practicing organic farming in Zambia the majority were small-scale farmers while their yields were insufficient to feed the whole nation.

Dr Mumba said the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had also estimated that 842 million people in the world are currently chronically undernourished and most of them being countries from the Sub Sahara Africa.

FAO has also noted that within 30 years, the global population is projected to increase by 2 billion.

Dr Mumba said in order to feed the world's population it was estimated that food production would have to double with much additional use of land and water resources.

Dr Mumba argued that the new GM technology has the potential to meet the need of food security.

He said GM foods resist pests and disease thereby producing greater yields as compared to organic crops.

Dr Mumba gave an example of South Africa as one of the countries in the world that has fought the food insecurity through the introduction of the GMO crops.

"The world was changing and Zambia should learn from other countries in the region that have introduced the biotechnology farming methods in fighting food insecurity. We should look for a way were the two could be combined in order to fight hunger" Dr Mumba said.