In Zambia, one of the most wretched nations in the world, people are foraging for roots and berries. The country has been stricken by famine. Luckily, the warehouses in Lusaka are stuffed with sacks of corn. Unluckily, people aren't allowed to eat it. Some of it is genetically modified. It might be dangerous.

Last week in Johannesburg, activists were papering the World Summit on Sustainable Development with scare stories on the perils of GM foods. They'd already managed to get a condemnation of GM foods on the summit's agenda. Their campaign has convinced most of Europe that the stuff is bad for you. Tragically, they've convinced the governments of desperate Africans as well.

"We would rather starve than get something toxic," said Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who declared a food emergency three months ago. He has stopped the distribution of 17,000 tons of corn because some of it is genetically modified.

The corn in Lusaka's warehouses is the same corn that Canadians and Americans eat. Countless studies have found nothing wrong with it. But years of propaganda by the sustainable-development lobby have done their work. Southern Africa is facing its worst famine in a decade, and some of its leaders believe that GM food is a First World plot.

GM seeds are engineered to grow faster and be more resistant to disease. They are already yielding better crops to farmers in India, South Africa and elsewhere. The World Health Organization, Health Canada and a dozen other bodies say GM food is safe. WHO head Gro Brundtland, an impeccable green, has begged the Africans to accept the food. But environmental groups have warned for years that GM food might cause allergies or other illnesses. They also warn that GM seeds could contaminate non-GM seeds and reduce the planet's biodiversity. "As genetically modified foods penetrate world markets, we are all guinea pigs in a food 'experiment' by agrochemical multinationals," says Greenpeace's Web site.

The United Nations says 13 million people face famine in southern Africa, and 300,000 people could die in the next six months. The director of the UN's World Food Program, James Morris, says there's no way Zambia's hungry can be fed without GM food. His agency is feeding about a million Zambians now, and could be feeding 2.5 million by the end of the year. But that has not swayed Zambian officials.

"I have been told it is not safe," Agriculture Minister Mundia Sikatana told The New York Times. The reporter asked whether he thinks such foods are poisonous. "What else would you call an allergy caused by a substance? That substance that the person reacts to is poisonous."

Many Europeans suspect GM food, too, and their suspicion is used as a convenient trade barrier aimed at the United States. The European Union has banned GM food imports. And now the Africans are worried that, if GM seeds accidentally contaminate their crops, the Europeans won't buy their food, either (although the prospect of surplus food seems rather hypothetical). Zimbabwe and Mozambique now say they'll accept GM corn, but only if it's milled first to remove the danger of escaping seeds. Zambia says that could be an acceptable solution, but it doesn't have the funds for milling.

Is it despicable and immoral to play politics with famine? Andrew Natsios, director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, thinks so. He has personally pleaded with Zambia's president to accept his corn. At the summit, he delivered a refreshing blast. "They are using big-time, very well-organized propaganda the likes of which I have never seen before," he said. They "can play these games with Europeans, who have full stomachs, but it is revolting and despicable to see them do so when the lives of Africans are at stake."

Greenpeace shot back, saying it had not taken a public stand on GM imports to feed the starving because "it's a delicate issue." Then it accused the U.S. of subjecting millions of Africans to life-threatening danger because it won't sign the Kyoto Protocol. Friends of the Earth (which has also protested against USAID food in Bolivia) said piously: "Africans should choose what they eat, not have someone else decide for them."

One of the more astute observations at the summit came from Lesotho's environment minister: "We sit here talking about sustainable agriculture and families are dying." From his point of view, the interests of the poorest nations and the interests of the First World sandalistas from the envirolobby are implacably opposed. They would rather save the planet. He'd prefer to save the people.

Meantime, back in Zambia, people aren't all that fussy about choosing what they eat. They're eating roots. "Please give us food," said a blind man to a Los Angeles Times reporter. "We don't care if it is poisonous, because we are dying anyway."
mwente@globeandmail.ca