HC Deb 27 April 2004 vol 420 c948W
John Barrett

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate his Department has made of the future food aid requirements in Southern Africa. [167824]

Hilary Benn

UN Crop and Food Supply Assessment teams arrive in Mozambique, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe this week to analyse the food supply situation with a vies.' to establishing future food aid requirements in these countries in the coming year. A team will arrive in Lesotho in mid-May to undertake similar work. Final reports are expected in early June.

The Southern African Development Community's (SADC) Vulnerability Assessment Committees, supported by DFID, have already started fieldwork in these countries. Their results will also feed into the UN analyses. Linking these two assessments of food insecurity will provide a clearer picture of supply and demand for food in affected countries, and a more accurate assessment 31 household food shortages and the levels of food aid needed to respond to acute needs.

DFID is also working at both country and regional levels to address the longer-term causes of regional food insecurity in Southern Africa. These programmes take a developmental approach to food insecurity, and aim to improve information on vulnerability and response, coupled with measures that enhance poor people's access to food in the longer-term.

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