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 that active funding programmes focused on supporting farmers and farming communities abroad is value for money.

The FCDO employs robust systems and frameworks to ensure we achieve high standards of value for money and spend British taxpayers' money well. For example, by reviewing programmes annually, assessing how they perform against FCDO priorities and making improvements.

The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) scrutinizes the effectiveness and value for money of UK aid. In June 2023, ICAI scored the UK's agriculture portfolio (covering all UK delivery programmes, investments and research funding related to agriculture) Green-Amber, reflecting its substantial achievements and recommending areas for improvement. The Government accepted all of ICAI's recommendations. A follow-up ICAI report in May 2024 commended the strength of FCDO's response to the recommendations.