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 ensure food security during the covid-19 pandemic in (a) Africa and (b) Asia.

Building on the Foreign Secretary's Call to Action and through our G7 Presidency, the UK secured the G7's first ever Compact to tackle the drivers of famine - protecting 34 million people at risk and addressing upward trend in humanitarian needs. G7-prioritised funding will alleviate extreme hunger in some of the worst conflict-hit places, including North-East Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen and Syria. It will ensure people have access to food, water and sanitation, and that their children have access to lifesaving malnutrition treatment and vaccinations. I have seen the importance of this work including during my visits to South Sudan (with UK Special Envoy for Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Affairs Nick Dyer) and Nigeria.

We have adapted development programmes in agriculture, food security and nutrition, to reduce the scale of the emergency; build resilience; and prepare recovery. Our Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) programme helped food supply chains in Uganda, Malawi and Nepal remain functional, fast-tracked digital innovation, improved processing, storage, and transportation, and protected food security and nutrition. The UK-co-chaired multilateral Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) adapted its portfolio and committed its full balance to mitigating COVID-19 impacts, in line with strategic parameters through UK leadership. GAFSP also launched a call for a greener recovery. We are working with partners to strengthen global food security monitoring and analysis and to better understand what COVID-19 has done to food security.