HC Deb 01 February 1993 vol 218 cc39-40W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if tobacco curing operations carried out in relation to Commonwealth Development Corporation-supported investments in the Rusitu region of Zimbabwe have used charcoal produced locally from natural and semi-natural forests.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

[holding answer 29 January 1993]: Decisions relating to the appraisal, implementation and monitoring of individual investments are the responsibility of the board of the CDC. I have asked the chairman to write to the hon. Member on the specific question he has asked and will arrange for copies of his letter to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what activities are supported by the Commonwealth Development Corporation in the Rusitu region of Zimbabwe.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

[holding answer 29 January 1993]: In the Rusitu region the Commonwealth Development Corporation has investments in enterprises producing milk, beef, coffee, tea, macadamia nuts and arable crops (primarily maize). The Commonwealth Development Corporation has also supported smalholder tea and dairy farming in the region.