Zambian Rejection of U.S. Food Assistance

We believe that, in making this decision, the Government of Zambia has disregarded the scientific evidence regarding the safety of the food for human consumption and is rejecting the advice of international relief organizations, governments around the world, and the European Commission, that accepting this safe maize to feed its hungry people would help avert human catastrophe.

The United States remains concerned that significant numbers of impoverished Zambians face serious food shortages. We stand ready to provide U.S. food assistance to those in need, should the Government of Zambia reverse its decision and accept our help. Indeed, we will continue to offer U.S. food aid to Zambia each time it arrives in the southern Africa region. We will keep our lines of communication open to ensure a prompt response should the situation change. We will also maintain our forward-looking program of assistance focused on the recovery of Zambian agriculture, and other non-food assistance to the people of Zambia.

We will also remain engaged closely with the World Food Program to assist in every way we can to prevent starvation among millions of people throughout southern Africa, who face devastating shortages of food, and we call on other donors to do the same. More than 1 million metric tons of food assistance is needed for this region through March 2003, and over 430,000 metric tons of this need is still unmet. The task of making up this shortfall, and getting the food to those who need it, particularly those in remote areas, is an enormous undertaking that will require a concerted effort by the international community. The situation is dire, getting worse, and spreading elsewhere in Africa, to the Horn of Africa in particular. People have already begun to succumb to starvation. Time is running out.