§ 1. Dr. Doug Naysmith (Bristol, North-West) (Lab/Coop)What measures the Government are taking to help the people of Ethiopia to overcome famine and other development problems. [172235]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas)The UK is committed to supporting Ethiopia's efforts to reduce poverty and address its continuing problems of food insecurity. Our programme is set to expand significantly in the next few years, rising from some £44 million in the last financial year to some £85 million in 2005–06.
§ Dr. NaysmithI thank my hon. Friend for that interesting and informative reply. It is clear that the Department for International Development is making a significant contribution in that regard. He mentioned land security, or the perception of land security. That is a matter that arises in other African countries too. Are there any lessons of wider significance to be learned from what is happening in Ethiopia?
Mr. ThomasAs my hon. Friend suggests, there have been problems in Ethiopia, not least because of people's perception and memory of previous efforts to redistribute land in that area. Research that we commissioned with the Ethiopian Economic Association has helped to change the attitude of the Government of Ethiopia, who are now supporting a comprehensive system of land certification, which will enable farmers to develop their land, to rent it out, to pass it on to their children and, as a result, to invest in the soil and hence increase the agricultural productivity of the country.
§ Mr. Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury) (Con)The Minister will be aware that in Ethiopia the problem of poverty is far more acute where families are headed by women than where families are headed by men, bad though it is in that case. The situation is worsened by the fact that young girls have to spend almost all their time 338 travelling to villages many miles away simply to bring back water. Does the Minister agree, therefore, that education, particularly of young girls, is of paramount importance in Ethiopia?
Mr. ThomasThe hon. Gentleman is right to allude not only to the particular difficulties that women face in Ethiopia, but to the challenges of making water more available to more of the people there. He will be pleased to know that the Government of Ethiopia have started to prioritise small-scale irrigation projects in areas that are most vulnerable to drought. The £30 million worth of budget support that we are putting in to help the Government of Ethiopia should, we hope, help the Government of Ethiopia to increase their capacity to roll out such investment.