Hunger Wars, not Trade Wars

The World Food Program recently signed an agreement with the Zambian government to provide thousands of tons of wheat to the starving citizens of Zambia. Controversy over the introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops into the Zambian agricultural sector had previously delayed the distribution of GM food aid to drought-stricken Zambia. The Zambian government’s first priority must be to preserve its citizens’ lives by distributing food to combat the African nation’s growing famine. In spite of concerns that GM food aid may harm the Zambian agricultural economy in the future, it is possible to prevent the GM crops from endangering agricultural exports while allowing the food aid to save thousands of Zambians from starvation.

The controversy over this aid centers around the regulations for genetically modified crops around the world. The United States permits GM food to be sold widely, and most American corn farmers plant genetically altered strains designed to make the corn stalks more resistant to disease and insect pests. Countries in the European Union and Africa, however, are wary of GM foods—believing that insufficient testing has been done on the altered strains to prove them safe for consumption.

Consequently, the European Union and some African countries have refused to allow imports of GM grain—fearing that genetically altered crops may cause health problems, from allergic reactions to more long-term illnesses. But there is no consensus on whether GM food actually causes any harm at all—there has been little indication that its extended consumption in the U.S. has had any negative impact—and regardless, it is hard to imagine any long-term effect that would be worse than millions of deaths by starvation.

Zambia’s economy depends on grain exports, most of which go to Europe. Currently, Zambia cultivates non-GM varieties of grain. If GM crops were planted in Zambia, cross-fertilization among crop strains would almost certainly cause Zambian grain harvests to contain at least some GM kernels. The presence of genetically altered grain in the nation’s harvest would prevent any Zambian grain from being shipped to European countries because of import bans on GM food, thus depriving Zambia of its principal export market and seriously damaging the long-term health of the Zambian agricultural economy.

Cross-fertilization—the process by which different strains of a crop combine to produce a new organism containing genetic material from both parent strains—can only occur with whole grains. Crushing the kernel of a grain, known as milling, prevents it from reproducing and thus transmitting its genetic material to a daughter organism. Milling GM crops thus eliminates the danger of cross-fertilization and strain contamination by making it impossible for the crops to transmit their altered genes by reproduction.

The United States and other countries have donated thousands of tons of grain—GM and non-GM—as aid to alleviate the famine currently plaguing Zambia and other African nations. The food has been languishing in warehouses for weeks as diplomats wrangle over whether to allow GM crops into Zambia, given the possibility for cross-fertilization and the ensuing loss of European export markets. Meanwhile, the toll of Zambian lives claimed by starvation continues to mount.

The solution is clear: Immediate distribution of non-GM grains like wheat and rapid milling of GM corn, to be shipped directly to the Zambian people. But major U.S. grain companies have been actively lobbying to use only non-milled GM crops for aid in an attempt to corner the African grain market. If GM crops contaminate Zambia, it will neither be able to sell excess crops to the European Union nor continue to grow GM grain without buying further shipments of seed grain from America.

Milled grain will alleviate the desperate famine currently faced by Zambia while preserving the purity of Zambian crop strains and thus their export potential to European markets. American companies should not be allowed to prevent milled grain from reaching Africa.