A dispute over the safety of gene-altered food is threatening efforts to feed millions of people facing starvation in southern Africa, a top US aid official said today.
The region's worst food crisis in a decade, affecting 13 million people in six countries, has fired a debate over the use of genetically modified (GM) food supplies.
Zambia, where 2.4 million people face starvation, has refused offers of GM foods, and environmental groups at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg have warned against their use.
"It's frightening people into thinking there is something wrong with the food...and the consequence of it is that the relief effort is slowing down," Mr Andrew Natsios, Administrator of USAID, said.
Zambia has banned GM food imports until its scientists establish through their own tests if the foods are safe for human consumption. GM crops are widespread in the US, which is providing half of all food aid to southern Africa. But the EU, for example, is also resisting GM imports.
The head of the UN World Food Programme said last week the GM controversy could halt aid distributions in Zambia. Scientists working for aid agencies say there is no health threat from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).