US embassy cable - 02HARARE1789

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 001789 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/PD (COX, VEASY), AF/S (SCHLACHTER), AF/RA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, KPAO, EAGR, EAID, ZI 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REPORT GMO FOOD; HARARE 
 
 
     1.   A press conference held on July 24 by Roger Winter, 
         Assistant Administrator at the United States Agency for 
         International Development (USAID), received blanket 
         coverage by the local print and electronic media, including 
         foreign news agencies - Reuters, Associated Press (AP) and 
         Agence France Presse (AFP).  The July 25 edition of the 
         government-controlled daily "The Herald" reported the event 
         under headline "U. S. urges Zim to accept genetically 
         modified food."  The July 25 edition of the independent 
         daily "The Daily News" preferred Reuter copy under headline 
         "Zimbabwe faces famine if Mugabe delays decision on GMO 
         food aid."  The independent weekly "The Sunday Mirror" ran 
         an article about the press conference under headline "Gvt. 
         Refuses USAID demands on GMOs."  An interview with Andrew 
         Natsios, USAID Administrator, via satellite television made 
         the front page of the July 28 edition of the independent 
         weekly "The Standard," under headline "U. S. warns Zim on 
         food aid."  Article excerpts follow. 
 
     2.   Under headline "U. S. urges Zim to accept genetically 
         modified food" the "Herald" (07/25) reported: 
 
         "The U. S. on Tuesday urged Zimbabwe to accept 
         genetically modified food to avert famine caused 
         by drought, which has affected southern Africa. 
         Assistant administrator at USAID Mr. Roger Winter 
         told reporters in Harare that although the issue 
         of genetically modified food was controversial, 
         the food could avert famine.  However, the 
         government has banned genetically modified food in 
         the country since studies were still being 
         conducted on the new technology.  Last week, local 
         researchers said Zimbabwe should not be quick to 
         embrace the new technology as this would affect 
         the county's beef markets in Europe and 
         elsewhere. . . ." 
 
         Under headline "Zimbabwe faces famine if Mugabe 
         delays decision on GMO food aid" the "Daily News" 
         (07/25) reported: 
 
         "Zimbabwe could have a famine on its hands by 
         September if President Mugabe's government delays 
         a decision on whether to accept genetically 
         modified food aid, a senior African aid official 
         said on Tuesday.  Roger Winter. . .said Zimbabwe 
         had `expressed concerns' over genetically modified 
         organism (GMO) foods, limiting the amount of food 
         the agency can bring in to help feed thousands of 
         needy people.  `We do not have other products that 
         do not have GMO in the volumes and within the time 
         frames that are necessary to keep the food 
         pipeline full,' Winter told journalists in 
         Harare. . .'The volumes that the U. S. is offering 
         to supply cannot be made up for by any other 
         country or group.  As of right now, most 
         traditional humanitarian donors for this kind of 
         emergency have yet to step up to the plate,' 
         Winter said. . . ." 
 
         Under headline "Gvt. Refuses USAID demands on 
         GMOs" the independent "Sunday Mirror" (07/28) ran 
         the following article by the paper's News Editor, 
         Innocent Chofamba-Sithole: 
 
         "The United States Agency for International 
         Development (USAID) has cited the government's 
         refusal to accept Genetically Modified (GMO) food 
         aid as a major stumbling block in its efforts to 
         avert a looming famine that threatens over six 
         million lives countrywide.  But the government has 
         dismissed this perception as erroneous, and 
         reiterated its position on both GMO food and calls 
         by donor countries and organizations for the 
         implementation of market-based macro-economic 
         policies to enable private food merchants to help 
         address the food crisis.  Addressing a press 
         conference last week, a visiting U. S. official 
         Roger Winter, said Zimbabwe's policy environment 
         presented complications that hampered timeous 
         (sic) and adequate responses to a food crisis that 
         is expected to blossom into full scale famine by 
         September.  `We recognize that every state in this 
         region has the right to receive or not to receive 
         GMO food, but this is what the U. S. has to 
         offer. . .We do not have other products, and in 
         the volumes required to meet the demand triggered 
         by the food crisis,' Rogers said. . . ." 
 
         Under headline "U. S. warns Zim on food aid" the 
         independent weekly "The Standard" (07/28) carried 
         the following article by Zwakele Sayi: 
 
          "The U. S. has said it will not deal with the 
          ZANU PF government in the provision of food aid 
          to hundreds of thousands of famine-stricken 
          Zimbabweans, and has warned that it will withdraw 
          its assistance altogether should the Mugabe 
          regime meddle with aid from that country.  The 
          warning comes in the wake of increasing reports 
          that Mugabe's ZANU PF party is using donor food 
          aid to gain political mileage and to settle 
          scores with supporters of the opposition MDC 
          (Movement for Democratic Change).  In a live 
          dialogue program. . .Andrew Natsios, the 
          administrator of USAID, said political inference 
          in the distribution of food aid had prompted his 
          country to deal solely with church 
          organizations. . .Natsios said contingency 
          measures were being undertaken to ensure that the 
          aid coming into Zimbabwe reached all intended 
          beneficiaries, not just ZANU PF 
          apologists. . .'  We are in the process of 
          negotiating with the Zimbabwean government to 
          cease using the aid to lure votes from the 
          starving and vulnerable,' he said. . . ." 
 
     3.   Meanwhile today's (August 1) edition of the 
         independent weekly "The Financial Gazette" carries an 
         article on page one declaring that the government has made 
         a u-turn on GMO food aid.  Excerpts: 
 
         "The government this week backtracked on its 
         decision to reject GMO food in the face of mass 
         hunger, agreeing to take in 20,000 tons of maize 
         donated by the U. S. after being told the food 
         would be diverted elsewhere,. . .Michael Foster, 
         the USAID program officer in Harare, yesterday 
         said Social Welfare Minister July Moyo had this 
         week undertook in writing to accept the food 
         without any certification that it was free of GMO. 
         `We had a meeting on Tuesday with officials from 
         the Labor and Social Welfare Ministry and we got a 
         letter from the permanent secretary of that 
         ministry signed by Moyo saying the government will 
         take the food,' Foster told the `Financial 
         Gazette. . . .'  Foster said it was still unclear 
         whether Harare's acceptance of the USAID food 
         donations signaled a permanent shift of policy on 
         GMO foods. . . ." 
 
SULLIVAN