Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Wednesday 17th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are extremely obliged to the Minister.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

4. What plans she has to support the application of agricultural science, research and innovation in developing economies.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)]

DFID is scaling up its agricultural research work in developing countries, particularly programmes that address the slow pace of agricultural innovation in sub-Saharan Africa.

[George Freeman]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, and congratulate her on the recent announcement of the £7 million international trade centre and the £57 million trade support package for Kenya and Uganda. Does she agree with me that trade is the best form of aid and that integrating our aid and trade missions, particularly in the field of agricultural technology, is the best way to drive really sustainable development?

[Justine Greening]

My hon. Friend is right, which is why I am very pleased that DFID is a central part of the agri-tech strategy that is shortly to be set out by the Government. It is absolute clear that we have an important role in helping poor countries to improve their agricultural systems and, in doing so, to help develop trade both domestically and internationally.

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Wednesday 12th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Lynne Featherstone]

I certainly hope that will be the case. One of our roles is, indeed, to leverage more funds across the board into the global fund. As the hon. Gentleman says, a replenishment year is coming up, and we will do all we can to make sure funds are replenished from everyone.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

Does the Minister agree that Britain’s agricultural science and our leadership in plant and animal genetics offer huge opportunities for us to help the developing world to deal with its emerging food nutrition challenges? I welcome the Government’s launch last month of an agricultural science strategy.

[Lynne Featherstone]

I agree that advancement in science will help to take this agenda forward. That is crucial in developing agriculture.

Oral Answers to Questions

George Freeman Excerpts

Wednesday 31st October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Duncan]

We are well aware of the access restrictions to safe drinking water in the west bank and Gaza. The UK Government regularly discuss these issues with Israel, and we continue to call for the full implementation of the relaxation of access restrictions for Gaza that Israel announced in June 2010.

[George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) (Con)]

5. What steps her Department is taking to use its aid budget to support strategic trading alliances between the UK and emerging nations.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Alan Duncan)]

The European Union leads on trade negotiations for its member states. DFID considers trade to be a key element to sustainable poverty reduction in developing countries. It helps to generate wealth, create jobs and raise incomes. We work with others to help to strengthen the multilateral trading system, and we provide practical support to enable poor countries to participate more effectively in international trade.

[George Freeman]

I thank the Minister for that answer. Given that the best form of aid is trade, and given the urgent need to rebalance our trade away from the sclerotic eurozone and the potential of our world-class biosciences to tackle food security, does the Minister agree that there is a huge opportunity, through strategic collaborations in agricultural science, to unlock relationships with emerging nations such as India to the benefit of us both?

[Mr Duncan]

The UK’s aid budget is, of course, untied, but technology transfer is an increasingly important part of DFID’s programme. For example, through our AgResults programme, we will harness technological innovation so that we can improve agricultural productivity and food security in some of the world’s poorest countries. Part of the Government’s strategy for life sciences is to export the benefits of our research to the developing world.