Written question asked by William Bain (Labour) on Thursday, 7 July 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 July 2011. It was answered by Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) on Thursday, 14 July 2011 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Horn of Africa: Climate Change

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation finance his Department has provided to smallholder farmers in the Horn of Africa in each of the last four financial years (a) in cash terms and (b) as a proportion of overall funding provided by his Department for climate change mitigation; and how much funding he plans to allocate for such purposes in each year of the comprehensive spending review period.

Answer: Our central recording systems do not capture such detail for project expenditure. The UK Government have committed to providing £1.5 billion in Fast Start finance over the period 2010-12, to help the developing world carry out the urgent work needed to adapt to climate change, adopt clean technology and reduce emissions from deforestation. 50% of this will help developing countries adapt to climate change, a significant share of which is designed to benefit smallholder farmers.The Department for International Development (DFID) recognises that smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate change. For example, DFID funded researchers in Ethiopia are working with farmers to make better decisions in the face of risks from drought. In Kenya DFID supports research on improved early warning so that farmers can adjust their cropping strategies to increase production.

Secondary information