HL Deb 03 November 1992 vol 539 cc1340-2

3.9 p.m.

Lord John-Mackie asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, in view of the scarcity of food in many parts of the world, they approve of the withdrawal of a further one and a half million acres of land in the United Kingdom from food production.

The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earl Howe)

My Lords, measures to cut surpluses, including set-aside, are intended to deal with the problem of over-production in Europe. Even when EC surpluses have been reduced, there will be ample food in the world.

Lord John-Mackie

My Lords, frankly I am astonished at that reply. There is reputed to be somewhere between 300 million and 1,000 million people starving in the world today—I think that those figures are correct. That is five times the population of America. Is the Minister really suggesting that the amount of surplus food in the world today would feed America five times?

Earl Howe

My Lords, the main problem is not the shortage of food but getting it to those who need it. It is often better to buy familiar foods from close to the affected area than to ship supplies from Europe. We must also be careful not to make other countries dependent on food aid to the extent that we destroy their indigenous agriculture.

Lord John-Mackie

My Lords, if that is the case, would it not be much better to produce here the temperate foods that we buy from Australia and New Zealand and to ask those countries to stop their ships on the east coast of Africa so that they can deliver the food there?

Earl Howe

My Lords, problems in getting food to famine areas are usually caused by an inadequate infrastructure, including poor transport, a lack of local resources and difficulties with distribution, but not because of a shortage of food wherever it comes from.

The Earl of Onslow

My Lords, is it not the case that dumping EC surplus agricultural produce onto the soi-disant third world would do nothing but ruin primitive agricultures and produce high exchange rates? The sooner that we cut down on over-subsidised European food, the better for everybody.

Earl Howe

My Lords, my noble friend is absolutely correct. It remains essential for the European Community to reduce the production of agricultural surpluses. Surpluses produced in de-veloped countries and dumped on world markets at artificially low prices have inhibited the development of farming in the third world and have reduced the ability of developing countries to feed themselves. That is one of the important reasons why we need a GATT agreement.

Lord Gallacher

My Lords, can the noble Earl tell us whether, in view of the possibility of less intensive farming in Britain, consideration can be given to schemes of practical training on farms for workers from third world countries to equip them for service when they return home?

Earl Howe

My Lords, that is a very interesting suggestion. Although it is slightly wide of the Question on the Order Paper, I shall nevertheless take it away with me.

Lord Gisborough

My Lords, are there any plans for passing on surplus food to help with the immediate problem of Yugoslavia this winter?

Earl Howe

My Lords, yes. The possibility of conveying food to Yugoslavia is being actively considered. Britain has so far given over £55 million to help the victims of the continuing conflict in that country. This is in addition to the Community's own contribution of £222 million, part of which—£56 million—has been allocated for food aid.

Lord John-Mackie

My Lords, it seems to me that every possible excuse has been produced for not getting food to the people who are actually dying, an enormous proportion of whom are small and young children. On the point that the Minister and his noble friend made about destroying markets in those countries, they should be taught to pay the deficiency payments the same as we did just after the war to ensure that farmers in those countries carried on producing food, as well as continuing to give food to the starving population.

Earl Howe

My Lords, I should not wish noble Lords to think that the United Kingdom was not playing its part in alleviating food shortages around the world. In the current financial year, for example, Britain has pledged 144,000 tonnes of food in cereals equivalent from the UK national food aid programme at an estimated cost of £28 million.