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Written question asked by Laurence Robertson (Conservative) on Wednesday, 22 July 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 1 September 2020 (named day). It was answered by James Duddridge (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 September 2020 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

East Africa: World Food Programme

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will allocate additional funding to the World Food Programme to enable it to increase assistance to East African countries; and if she will make a statement.

Answer

We are deeply concerned about the food security situation in East Africa, where nearly 25 million people are at crisis levels of food insecurity. Existing humanitarian need will be exacerbated by climate change, the desert locust outbreak and the impact of Covid-19.

The UK is working across East Africa to provide life-saving assistance, cash transfers where markets are still functioning, and tools and seeds to build a longer-term ability to respond to shocks. We are working through both our country programming and multilateral responses, which includes through the World Food Programme (WFP). In 2019, DFID has provided almost USD 700million to support WFP's operations. In 2020, our contribution so far is USD 254million (this includes a USD 19million contribution to WFP's global services in response to Covid-19).

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
78491
Session
2019-21
Subjects
Development aid World Food Programme East Africa
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk