Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LUSAKA208
2009-03-26 13:16:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Lusaka
Cable title:  

BIOTECH: PRESIDENT OPENS A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Tags:  ETRD EAGR TBIO ZA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0630
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHLS #0208/01 0851316
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 261316Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6856
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUSAKA 000208 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EEB/TPP/ABT (SZYMANSKI AND BOBO) AND EEB/CBA
(WINSTEAD)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2019
TAGS: ETRD EAGR TBIO ZA
SUBJECT: BIOTECH: PRESIDENT OPENS A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

REF: A. LUSAKA 117

B. LUSAKA 72

C. LUSAKA 41

D. LUSAKA 33

E. 08 LUSAKA 1186

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LUSAKA 000208

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EEB/TPP/ABT (SZYMANSKI AND BOBO) AND EEB/CBA
(WINSTEAD)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2019
TAGS: ETRD EAGR TBIO ZA
SUBJECT: BIOTECH: PRESIDENT OPENS A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

REF: A. LUSAKA 117

B. LUSAKA 72

C. LUSAKA 41

D. LUSAKA 33

E. 08 LUSAKA 1186


1. (C) Summary and Action Request. Over the past three
months, numerous Zambian Government (GRZ) officials --
beginning with President Banda -- have privately expressed
some openness to loosening Zambia's restrictions on
biotechnology. Agriculture Minister Chituwo said the
President had ordered a review of the country's policy on
genetically modified organisms (GMOs). President Banda's
interest marks a sharp departure from his predecessor's
hard-line stance against GMOs and represents a (perhaps
narrow) window of opportunity to advance U.S. objectives.
GRZ officials are reticent to move the issue forward on their
own accord, however, given persistent public misconception on
what remains a highly emotive subject in Zambia. President
Banda requested USG assistance in disseminating accurate
information and reviving (and informing) the public debate.
Progress on this front is important to Zambia's prospects for
food security, poverty alleviation, and economic
diversification and gaining Zambia's support (or at least
dropping its opposition) to U.S. position on GMO in
international fora. See para 7 for Embassy's planned next
steps (and action request). End Summary.


2. (C) In a December meeting with President Banda, the
Ambassador raised the issue of GMOs within the context of
Zambian food security (ref E). Perhaps acknowledging the
near impossibility of enforcing the GRZ's ban, President
Banda noted that Zambians already consume GMOs in imported
processed food. He conceded that there is a great deal of
quiet support throughout Zambia for buying GMO commodities
from abroad. He also expressed frustration that the GRZ must
pay a hefty premium to import "GMO-free" maize during years
of inadequate domestic production. Although President Banda
(a farmer himself) may recognize the benefits of GM seed, he
suggested that Zambia first concentrate on lifting
restrictions on GM food, particularly milled grains which
cannot be planted.


3. (C) Minister of Agriculture Brian Chituwo told DCM that

President Banda ordered a review of the GRZ's restrictive GMO
policy in March, but demurred to offers of USG technical
assistance on the subject, saying "interested parties, like
the United States will certainly be consulted." Other
Cabinet members also have indicated privately their interest
in relaxing the GRZ's restrictions on biotechnology,
including Vice President/Minister of Justice George Kunda
(ref A),Minister of Commerce, Trade, and Industry Felix
Mutati, and Minister of Agriculture for Livestock and
Fisheries Bradford Machila. Although these critical Cabinet
members are all supportive of amending Zambia's policy, no
one -- not even President Banda -- appears ready to show
leadership, fearful that this will make them vulnerable to
public attack or that Zambia will lose its access
(non-existant access) to European markets if it lifts its
bans. Emboff's arguments that European views and policies on
GMO are evolving piqued Zambian interest. More and updated
information might help tip the scale in Zambia.


4. (C) President Banda emphasized the pressing need to
disseminate accurate information and requested USG support in
(re-)opening the public debate by hosting roundtable events,
arranging speaker programs, and publishing articles. Embassy
Lusaka has already arranged the publication of an effective
pro-GMO op ed in the largest circulation daily that
stimulated public debate among academics, consumer groups,
farmers, and even GRZ officials. Post has requested
Department funding through separate BFIF (ref D) and biotech
outreach (ref C) proposals. Using discretion so as not to
appear on the forefront of a divisive issue, Post intends to
share information with GRZ officials on the potential
benefits of GM products. Post will also update GRZ officials
and parliamentarians on GM liberalization in other parts of
the world, including cultivation trends and the WTO ruling
against the European Union. The dean of University of
Zambia's agriculture department suggested to Emboff that an
important first step would be to encourage the GRZ to once
more permit research on GM products so that Zambian
scientists could contribute to the public debate.


5. (SBU) Post will also work closely with the Common Market
for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretariat, which
aims to harmonize biotechnology and biosafety rules within
the region. Many senior Secretariat members, including the
Secretary General himself, are privately in favor of

LUSAKA 00000208 002 OF 002


biotechnology, which they see as imperative to improving
Eastern and Southern Africa's agricultural productivity and
competitiveness. Through USAID East Africa funding, the
Secretariat has hired a biotechnology advisor to open a
biotechnology dialogue with regional leaders (ref B). A
COMESA agricultural advisor recently told Emboff that several
private sector organizations feel threatened by GM
commercialization, research, and cultivation in other parts
of Africa and do not want to be "left behind."


6. (C) Comment. Although the GRZ's enthusiasm and
initiative is not overwhelming, President Banda may have
cracked a window of opportunity that may not extend beyond
the end of his presidency (2011). This renewed interest in
GMOs is motivated by the GRZ's budgetary pressures rather
than its desire to increase agricultural productivity, but
overcoming the public paranoia about "frankenfoods" is a
first step toward building acceptance of biotech seeds and
crops. Regional peers and partners such as South Africa, as
well representatives from forward leaning, lower- and
middle-income pro-GMO countries such as India and Brazil,
wield significant influence and enjoy considerable
credibility. To this effect, partnering with other countries
could be critical to the success of any outreach effort.
Although progress on biotechnology may not create significant
markets for U.S. exporters in the near term, it could
contribute substantially to national and regional food
security prospects as well as to the GRZ's efforts to
diversify its economy and alleviate poverty through
agricultural development. Additionally, by lifting (or
loosening) its GMO bans, which by some accounts may be the
most restrictive in the region, the GRZ would send a powerful
signal to neighboring countries and other developing
economies of the need to adapt to a changing environment.


7. (SBU) Game Plan and Action Request: Post's plan of
action includes hosting a roundtable with parliamentarians
(particularly those who represent regions of systematic food
shortages); pressing the GRZ to revise its GMO policy,
including lifting its ban on research, permitting importation
of food relief containing GM content, lifting trade
restrictions on GM food and seed, and approving GM crop
cultivation; providing State House with resource materials
that highlight global developments in agricultural fora and
that underscore the potential benefits of GMO crops; helping
facilitate a biotech event on the margins of the COMESA
agricultural ministerial; developing a working group with
representatives from diplomatic missions of biotech-friendly
countries, including India, Brazil, China, South Africa, and
Canada; sending Zambian officials on visitor programs to the
United States; and continuing to place op eds in Zambian
papers.

To broaden the tools at our disposal as we seek to take
advantage of the President's support, post requests EEB to
reconsider our biotech outreach (ref C) and BFIF proposals
(ref D),particularly with regard to:

--funding a biotech visitor program to engage with
policy-makers, civil society organization, farmers'
associations, parliamentarians, and journalists;

--helping to identify an appropriate interlocutor on
biotechnology from lower- or middle-income pro-biotech
countries that can speak to the economic benefits of adopting
GM technology;

--supporting COMESA's high level policy intervention;

--reaching out to a wider audience by airing information
programs on Zambian television; and

--supporting a non-USG speaker at the Zambia National Farmers
Union annual congress to address global trends in world
commodity markets, as well as biotechnology's impact on
global food supply.

Embassy point of contact is Pol/Econ Officer Mika Cleverley
(cleverleymx@state.gov).

BOOTH