§ Mrs. SpelmanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the status of the food shortage in Ethiopia; and what provisions are being made to prevent it recurring in the longer term. [133563]
§ Hilary BennThe August 2003 update of the Ethiopian Government/UN Emergency Assistance Requirements and Implementation Options stated that for the period August-December unmet requirements were 37,458 metric tonnes of pulses and vegetable oil, while cereal food needs were covered.
Our Country Assistance Plan for Ethiopia, which was published in March, outlines the various methods that we are using to take forward our longer-term food strategy. We are working with the Ethiopian Government and Ireland Aid to pilot new approaches to improving roads and transport in rural areas. We are also working at federal and regional level in Ethiopia to learn policy-relevant lessons about key food security issues; for example we have also supported a study of destitution and the policy options available to address this.
The Ethiopian Government has itself established a task force to address the issue of food insecurity.