§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are aware of the response of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to the request made in 1983 at Rome by the Sudan for aid and technical assistance; and whether they have been approached to provide funds for water-prospecting and well-boring or other assistance with land-settlement and agricultural development in the Sudan, and what sums have been allocated to the Sudan for aid and technical assistance for the current year and 1985–86.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)I understand that in 1983 the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme supplied 8,875 tonnes of commodities worth US $2.8 million in response to1204WA three requests from the Sudan for emergency food aid. The FAO also operated fourteen long-term technical assistance projects costing US $23.4 million.
The Government have not been asked to help with water prospecting and well-boring in the Sudan, but we have agreed to support an agricultural project in Equatoria Province, agricultural development in Darfur Province, the rehabilitation or irrigated agriculture in the Northern Region and the Gezira, a refugee agricultural scheme in the East, and several livestock projects. We plan to spend up to £30 million in British bilateral aid to Sudan during 1984–85, and will have a substantial programme in 1985–86.