Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent reports she has received on the work of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition; what steps she is taking to ensure that the Alliance's work does not contribute to the takeover of land belonging to small farmers by multinational corporations; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the Alliance does not prioritise growing food for export over producing food to feed local people.

The New Alliance Leadership Council met on 2^nd of June 2015. The UK attended this meeting and a progress report was discussed, agreed and will be published shortly on the New Alliance website.

All parties investing under the New Alliance commit to support implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of land, fisheries and forests, which are international guidelines to make land investments transparent and accountable.

Most of the investment commitments made under the New Alliance involve agribusiness investments downstream from the farm and are therefore not competing with small-scale farmers. Such investments are critical to create jobs and new markets for small-scale farmers, and to help African countries diversify out of primary commodity production. This will require investment and growth along the agricultural value chain rather than just investment in small-scale farmers’ food production.