§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What information they have about famines and food deficits in the Sudan and what criteria they consider should be met before bilateral or multilateral aid is made available.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (The Earl of Caithness)There is a considerable body of information available about the general food security situation in Sudan. Early, informal, indications are that in 1991 Sudan will face a severe food deficit; possibly as much as 1 million tonnes. FAO's crop assessment report expected in mid-December will give the definitive figures.
We have already responded to Sudan's immediate food needs by pledging 10,400 tonnes of cereals for Kordofan. This brings our total humanitarian aid to Sudan to £21 million since the beginning of 1989. We are ready to do more if necessary. However, a major international relief effort cannot succeed without the full co-operation of the Sudanese Government in acknowledging the problem and providing assurances to donors on the organisational, accounting and monitoring arrangements for distributing relief to all
Thousand tonnes Imports of coal 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Country of origin United States of America 3,344 3,145 3,560 2,890 14,073 4,874 Australia 1,859 5,456 3,822 3,459 13,416 2,676 Poland 1,359 1,418 1,217 1,083 1,270 1,055 Colombia — 89 56 319 574 874 Canada 117 399 449 362 553 729 People's Republic of China 22 34 26 146 319 450 Republic of South Africa 257 725 312 188 276 346 Federal Republic of Germany 959 746 439 256 182 259 Netherlands 304 306 218 664 279 200 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 11 23 48 89 375 181 Panama — — — — — 106 Venezuela 1 1 — — 92 86 Belgium 232 167 169 192 122 78 Norway 4 2 2 32 15 58 France 229 28 21 32 42 50 Other countries 195 194 214 67 98 116 Total 8,894 12,732 10,554 9,781 111,685 12,137 1Revised in March 1990. Note: Due to rounding the sum of the constituent items may not equal the totals.
Source: Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics.
2WAin need. Such co-operation has not yet been forthcoming. We are working with other bilateral and multilateral donors to try to secure this co-operation.