Food aid and commercial imports of GM commodities: the case of Malawi

During the past two decades Malawi has increasingly relied on imports and food aid to compensate for recurring food production deficits.

The use of imports and food aid to mitigate starvation in Malawi and neighbouring Southern African countries has been met with stiff resistance by policy makers, NGOs, and some groups of consumers due to the emergence and inclusion of genetically modified (GM) maize stock in the food aid and commercial import consignments. Fear of unknown risk to human and animal health and the likelihood of contaminating and eroding the maize genetic pool in the region triggered region-wide condemnation that the use of GM maize to offset food shortages was an unsuitable and unwelcome option.

The main objectives of this study are:

• to estimate how the impact that different import policies toward GM commodities might have on food security in Malawi and the SADC region in general
• to address Government regulations and requirements for importing GM food analysing the nation’s actual practice in terms of imported commercial shipments of maize that might contain GM varieties, identifying sources of imports
• to estimate the possible farm-level impacts and adoption rate indications if GM crops were permitted to be released for commercial production by national authorities.

The study recommends that:

• Governments in the SADC regional allocate resources to facilitate development of a Biotechnology Common Policy and Regulatory Framework (BCPRF) within the next two years
• Governments should allocate sufficient resources to build technical and human capacity through acquisition of appropriate GM testing equipment and knowledge and skills development of commodity inspectors
• Government in collaboration with the private sector should mount awareness campaign to counter unfounded and negative publicity of transgenic commodities
• Government in collaboration with the private sector invest sufficiently in evidence based biotechnology information systems development through national research centres and policy analysis networks
• Government continues implementing a market friendly input support programmes through subsidies with a clearly defined exit strategy within the next five years.