The United States said it gave Zimbabwe 8,500 tonnes of maize this week to ease a food shortage but a further 10,000 tonnes was rejected because it did not have a certificate saying it had not been genetically modified. However, when the government of Zimbabwe did not waive its requirement that entering commodities must be certified as entirely non-GMO (genetically modified origin), the maize was reallocated to Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia. Aid agencies say about three million Zimbabweans, nearly 25 percent of the national population, are facing starvation.
Todor Kolarov on June 4, 2002
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It may probably be an incident and decision (on government'part) occasioned by myopic politicking,though at the expense to ourselves, and a miscalculated device of pretence.However, this also raises a question whether the issue of GMOs is sufficiently understood in Zimbabwe, whether misconceptions, if any are existent, have been indeed cleared, and whether the motive to bring in such food into the country are clearly defined, examined and then communicated.