In hungry region, South African maize may feed Chinese chickens FEATURE 09/20/2010

In hungry region, South African maize may feed Chinese chickens

FEATURE

09/20/2010
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa produces too much maize (corn). Its neighbors not enough. But rather than feeding its neighbors, South Africa’s surplus maize may feed Chinese chickens, due to regional worries about genetically modified crops.

South African farmers grew 13 million tons of maize in the harvest that ended around May. That included a surplus of four million tons, an excess that has pushed down prizes and threatens to bankrupt 10,000 farmers.

“The industry was not prepared for what happened. The surplus was causing panic. Over-production is not a sustainable way of producing,” said Mariam Mayet of the African Center for Biosafety.

Most of South Africa’s neighbors had bumper harvests as well, driving down demand.

But even countries like Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi, which suffer chronic food shortages, refuse to accept South African maize because of worries about importing genetically modified organisms.

South Africa began planting genetically modified crops in the 1990s, and now they account for 57 percent of all maize planted in the country. Often the harvests are mixed together at mills, so that importers consider all maize as genetically modified (GM)..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100920com3.html