Developing Countries: Food Supply

(asked on 19th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to scale up social protection in countries experiencing extreme levels of food insecurity.


Answered by
James Duddridge Portrait
James Duddridge
This question was answered on 23rd July 2021

FCDO recognises the vital role of social protection in boosting household food security and helping people to meet basic needs. We work with national governments to help them strengthen and scale up their social protection systems, including building systems that can flex to respond to shocks, to mitigate their impact on food security. For example, in Kenya the FCDO has routinely delivered cash transfers to nearly 600,000 people since 2013, and the programme is designed to scale up to an additional 1.62 million people during periods of drought. Since 2012, the Government of Kenya has co-financed these cash transfers.

The FCDO programme 'Better Assistance in Crises' is providing technical assistance and generating evidence on how social protection can help poor and vulnerable people better meet their basic needs in crises, including contexts of food insecurity. At the G7 meeting in May 2021, through the famine prevention and humanitarian crises compact, we committed to work with the World Bank to support existing and shock-responsive social protection systems in the most vulnerable and conflict-affected countries.

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