Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has met with representatives of the the Fairtrade Foundation to discuss farming support for people in poverty in developing countries in the last 12 months.

The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development has not yet met with representatives of the Fairtrade Foundation. The FCDO works with organisations like Fairtrade Foundation through its agriculture portfolio, which contains programmes that are designed to support farmers in the most vulnerable countries. For example, with UK International Climate Finance (ICF), we are supporting the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness programme (CASA), the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), and other agriculture interventions. Officials have consulted Fairtrade Foundation and other sector stakeholders and welcome the opportunity to continue to do so as our work evolves.