East Africa: Food Security

Lord Chidgey Excerpts

Monday 13th July 2020 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Chidgey]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of (1) the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) desert locusts, on food security in countries in east Africa, and in particular in (a) Sudan, and (b) South Sudan.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development (Baroness Sugg) (Con)]

My Lords, we are deeply concerned about the food security situation in east Africa. In Sudan, we expect the number of people without access to sufficient food to increase this year by 35% to 9.6 million. In South Sudan, already 6.5 million people suffer acute food insecurity. The UK is working across east Africa to provide life-saving assistance, cash transfers where markets are still functioning, and tools and seeds to build a longer-term ability to respond to shocks.

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[Lord Chidgey (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for that Answer and I welcome the Government’s efforts over the desert locust storms and Covid-19 in east Africa and the Sudans. What UK aid programmes have been cut as a result of moving funding for these urgent projects? The FAO reports that some 19 million people were food insecure in the region last year, so situation is worse than it was 12 months previously. In South Sudan, close to 60% of the population are severely food insecure. Locust swarms present a double crisis for those battling the Covid pandemic, preventing the delivery of locust-control equipment and restricting access to response teams with essential advice and expertise. Will the UK Government commit to maintaining the central purpose of our 0.7% GNI aid programme as ODA compliant to support east Africans with meagre health infrastructure and to ensure access to affordable Covid vaccines, once available?

[Baroness Sugg]

My Lords, as the noble Lord said, we are committed to 0.7% of our GNI. That commitment continues, and will continue, to work to end poverty. The noble Lord refers to a process that departments are going through at the moment, given the likely reduction in GNI this year. I am afraid I do not have further information about that process but it will be available in due course.