Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which countries experienced famine last year; and what assistance the UK provided to such countries.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
There were no declarations of famine in 2014. A number of countries or regions reached the level below famine in the classification. These include: South Sudan, Sudan, and some rural, conflict-affected areas of Central African Republic. In May 2014 there were warnings of famine in conflict-affected areas of South Sudan. DFID has so far (December 2013-present) provided £135 million for humanitarian response in South Sudan, and £58 million to refugees in the region.
DFID’s work in South Sudan and other areas at risk of acute food insecurity or famine continues to be informed by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) report on the 2010/2011 famine in the Horn of Africa. This recommended increased flexibility and early response, as well as approaches aimed at addressing chronic poverty and vulnerability. DFID has responded to this developing multi-year humanitarian approaches aimed at linking humanitarian and development work to maximise coordination, complementarity, impact and sustainability, and at building community resilience to shocks.