October 9, 2014

Genetically-modified (GM) crops are seen as a key solution towards eradicating poverty and famine in the Southern African region.

But the biggest challenge for countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), according to a report in The Southern Times, the region's leading newspaper, is that member states are polarised over the issue.

While South Africa ranks eighth among the top 28 international GMO producers in the world, its position as the only GMO producer in the SADC reveals a lack of consensus or political will towards GMO acceptance.

In Zimbabwe, Parliament has questioned the government's refusal to adopt GMOs. Agriculture, mechanisation and irrigation development permanent secretary, Ringson Chitsiko, claims that pro-GMO countries are now regretting the decision.

"One party is against the extensive use of GMOs and it is led by the EU. It prefers organic matter and perceives it to be healthier, and is of the firm belief that GMOs do more harm than good," Sameh Soror, an expert in biochemistry and molecular biology, explains.

"The second party, headed by the US, supports the widespread use of GMOs arguing that supposed risks involving its use have not validated," he said.

Obstructing the future of GMOs in Southern Africa's food supply is the fact that scientific institutions, government regulators and other stakeholders possess inadequate knowledge concerning biotechnologies, especially GMO crops.

In 2003, the SADC Advisory Committee on Biotechnology and Biosafety said member states should commission studies on the implications of biotechnology and biosafety on agriculture, environment, health and socioeconomics as part of an integrated monitoring and evaluation system.

In addition, the committee called for support to improve the capacity of scientists, government regulators and policy makers involved.

Genetic modification is a controversial technology which grants organisms beneficial features such as higher yield, better pest resistance and drought tolerance via the implanting of genetic material from unrelated organisms.