Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effects of the Russian blockade of exports of grain from Ukraine; in particular, the impact on food supply and food security in developing countries; and what plans they have to use the Official Development Assistance budget, and the resources of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to mitigate these effects.

The threat to global food security from Russia's blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports is huge. Putin's illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is exacerbating price rises in commodity markets. 49 million people are already living a step away from famine and almost 860,000 people are estimated to be in famine-like conditions.

Over the next 3 years, we will direct £3 billion to the most vulnerable countries and people to help them recover from crises. We welcome the World Bank's announcement of $30 billion to address food insecurity globally over the next 15 months, which responds to the UK's calls for the Bank to mobilise funding to tackle the growing crisis. The UK has also committed another £10 million to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to build resilience in agriculture and food security in the poorest countries, bringing our total contribution to £186 million.