Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional financial support and assistance they are providing the World Food Programme to develop an effective response to the risk of food insecurity in Africa.

The UK is one of the main Government partners of the World Food Programme and the third largest Donor (in 2019 we contributed over $700 million to the Agency). We are also supporting other UN Agencies with a mandate to address the risk of food insecurity such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the International Fund for Agricultural Development and promoting synergic and coordinated programmes to maximise efficiencies and outcomes.

Our support to the World Food Programme includes financial support both from the centre and at country level (in 2019 we supported World Food Programme programmes in 26 countries, 18 of which are in Africa), including on preparedness to better deal with extreme weather events, and agricultural issues. We also assist with policy steer and advocacy, as we lead on global efforts against the fall-army worm, assessments on early warning systems and climate change. Lastly, we also provide technical assistance to local production to support smallholder farmers and support cash-based transfers in humanitarian settings.