Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps he has taken to support people in developing countries affected by acute food insecurity.

As the third largest bilateral humanitarian donor, the UK is a global leader in supporting people in acute need, including those at risk of food insecurity. In 2017, we were amongst the first to raise the alarm and to provide support for populations at risk of dying from starvation in Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen and North East Nigeria. We provided £170 million for provision of humanitarian aid in Somalia in 2017, supporting those at risk of famine and in 2017/18 our support in South Sudan reached over 420,000 people with food assistance. Since 2013, we have spent approximately £1.3 billion supporting the scale up of nutrition services in humanitarian contexts including Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and the DRC.

Our approach is to act early to save more lives, and to build the resilience of communities and states to crises and shocks. Our work on humanitarian early warning systems raises awareness of crises where food security is deteriorating and informs timely responses to mitigate the impact of acute food insecurity. Alongside this, we also prioritise longer-term responses to support food security, including through agricultural programmes.