WORLD FOOD SECURITY

HL Deb 13 November 1979 vol 402 cc1236-7WA

Lord BROCKWAY

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have established, separately or with other Governments, special reserves of foodstuffs to secure the world against famine in accordance with the undertaking given by Governments at the World Food Conference in 1974.

The MINISTER of STATE, MINISTRY of AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES and FOOD (Earl Ferrers)

The noble Lord no doubt has in mind the International Undertaking on World Food Security, the main aim of which was to encourage signatories to set stock targets or objectives for cereals in order to promote world food security. Although it has not set itself any formal targets the European Community pursues a cereals stock policy commensurate not only with the needs of the internal market but also with likely export requirements, including food aid obligations. This year the Community has increased its stocks of wheat from a normal level in years past of 4.5 million tonnes to around 7.5 million tonnes.