Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 March to Question 129089, (a) what proportions of the (i) 500,000 children under 5 estimated by UNICEF to be at risk of acute malnutrition and the (ii) 110,000 children under 5 estimated by UNICEF to be at risk of severe malnutrition will be aided by the funding already allocated by her Department, and (b) what support her Department is offering to projects to enable protection of (A) farmland, (B) replanting of crops, and (C) reforestation in southern Madagascar.

The UK is supporting an international multisector response to severe and prolonged drought in the south of Madagascar. Through the World Food Programme (WFP) our food assistance support is targeted at whole families with varying numbers of children per household. In total we are reaching 100,000 people in 20,000 households. Through UNICEF our support to health and nutrition is focused on building the knowledge and capacity of parents and care-givers to prevent malnutrition and is reaching 150,000 mothers and primary care givers.

We are also a major contributor to other multilateral partners and UN agencies such as the World Bank; the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO); and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) who are working with the Government of Madagascar and local communities on important aspects of early recovery and resilience such as protecting farmland, replanting crops, and reforestation in the drought-affected south. Later this year we will launch DEFRA's £10 million Bio-Diverse Landscapes Fund to strengthen the sustainable management of nine forest protected areas throughout Madagascar, including in the south, over the next seven years.