Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the food security situation in East Africa; and what steps his Department is taking to alleviate the problems.

Food insecurity remains a huge challenge across East Africa. Tens of millions of people throughout the region face 'crisis' levels of food insecurity. The UK is leading efforts to address the crisis. The UK will deliver £89 million of aid to Sudan in 2024/2025, up from nearly £50 million in 2023/2024. On 16 April at a UK convened humanitarian pledging event I [Deputy Foreign Secretary] committed £100 million in aid to Ethiopia which will reach hundreds of thousands of people. Since 2019 the UK has allocated over £1 billion in humanitarian funding to East Africa benefitting millions of people.