Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the level of food insecurity in the Central African Republic; and what steps her Department is taking to promote short and long-term food security in that country.

Food security assessments in Central African Republic (CAR) have shown that 1.7 million people are in need of food assistance. Food security has been affected by lack of access to agricultural land in 2013, attacks on crop reserves, poor rainfall, non-payment of civil servants and the collapse of trading networks.

DFID is funding the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Solidarites International and the ICRC for seeds and tools distribution to improve food security in the medium to long-term, as well as supporting cash and food distribution to address the short-term food security situation. DFID has contributed £18 million in 2014 to the crisis in CAR.