Oral Answers to Questions

Caroline Spelman Excerpts
Wednesday 30th January 2013

(11 years, 9 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Baroness Featherstone Portrait Lynne Featherstone
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The hon. Lady points to the fragility of this area and its food security. Crises arise from chronic vulnerabilities that need long-term solutions. We are supporting multilateral efforts to promote resilience in the Sahel to ensure that its communities can deal with the shocks and do not face dire consequences in future. We are currently preparing a Sahel resilience strategy.

Caroline Spelman Portrait Mrs Caroline Spelman (Meriden) (Con)
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Food security in west Africa is indeed threatened by climate change. Does the Minister also agree that the Prime Minister’s insistence on addressing the property rights of the world’s poorest farmers tackles one of the underlying causes of food insecurity?

Baroness Featherstone Portrait Lynne Featherstone
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The Prime Minister is quite right. The work that we are doing to give land title to smallholders means that they have security and can work their land without it being taken from them.