§ Mr. Cordleasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of British aid is given in the form of food; and what nutritional criteria are applied.
§ Mr. WoodIn the financial year 1972–73 Britain spent £0.7 million, which was 0.2 per cent. of British aid. In the current financial year, expenditure may rise to about £6 million, including a direct contribution to the World Food Programme (WFP) but excluding the British share of the cost of European Community food aid financed from the EEC budget.
The World Food Programme seeks to ensure that the nutritional content of food given under its auspices to developing countries is suited to the projects for which the food is made available. The commodities contributed by Britain to the WFP have a high protein content. Commodities given as British food aid outside the WFP are given because they are both desired by the countries receiving them, both because they are nutritionally valuable and acceptable to local consumers, and are available at the right time.