§ 50. Mr. Nicholas Bakerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government plan to make a further contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and if he will make a statement.
§ 51. Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the present United Kingdom contribution to the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and if he intends to increase this.
§ Mr. RaisonWe have so far contributed £30.9 million to IFAD. Negotiations in respect of the next replenishment, to cover the years 1985 to 1987, are still not completed. If and when that replenishment is agreed, the Government plan to contribute to it the same percentage of the OECD share as we contributed to the first replenishment.
§ Mr. BakerThat answer is welcome to many of us. Does my right hon. Friend agree that Third world countries want help in developing agriculture? Will he try to ensure that, as a proportion of our total aid, our contribution to this fund is increased in future years?
§ Mr. RaisonI agree that the development of agriculture is a high priority throughout the Third world. IFAD does a good job, but I remind my hon. Friend that the more we put into multilateral agencies such as this, the less is available for our own bilateral programme, which also does a good job, and which, unlike IFAD, is overwhelmingly targeted on poor countries and on giving grants rather than loans.
§ Mr. DeakinsIn view of the rapid population growth in many parts of Africa, should we not both multilaterally and bilaterally give much greater priority to resources for raising domestic food production? Should that not be a top priority in all our programmes?
§ Mr. RaisonYes, I agree that the raising of domestic food production in these African countries is one of the principal targets of my Department and also of the European Community.