§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Prime Minister what progress has been made in implementing the decisions of the Dublin summit regarding grain supplies to Ethiopia and other African countries.
§ The Prime MinisterSince the European Council in Dublin, £103.25 million has been committed from the emergency provision of the European development fund and from the 1984 Community budget for this purpose. But until member states all announce what they intend to give, the Community cannot finally determine the size and cost of its contribution. The Government have announced that they will contribute up to 110,000 tonnes.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Prime Minister if she will estimate the amount of grain pledged to African countries since September 1984 by (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the European Economic community: and, of these amounts, how much has already been transported to the recipient countries.
§ The Prime Minister33,000 tonnes of grain have been committed by the United Kingdom, 18,300 tonnes of which has been delivered. 222,988 tonnes have been committed by the European community, of which 13,000 tonnes have been delivered. In all about 106,000 tonnes have been shipped during this period including deliveries from earlier commitments.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Prime Minister what estimates are available to her regarding the amount of grain required by African countries suffering from drought in each of the coming three years.
§ The Prime MinisterEstimates of this kind are not available. The Government see different forecasts of the grain requirements of drought affected African countries from a variety of sources, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, but none of the forecasts yet goes beyond 1985.