Part of Oral Answers to Questions — International Development – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 11 June 2008.
Douglas Alexander
The Secretary of State for International Development
11:30,
11 June 2008
A significant portion of the money that was announced is going into agricultural research. I arrived in Rome with a clear sense that we face three fundamental challenges—short, medium and long term. The short-term challenge is to make sure that we get immediate humanitarian relief to the up to 850 million people around the world who are vulnerable to hunger as a consequence of rising food prices. That is why we are working both with the World Bank and, in particular, to support the World Food Programme initiatives. Secondly, in the medium term, we need a successful conclusion to the Doha development round and we continue to champion that cause in international venues. Thirdly, we need a significant uplift in agricultural productivity, principally in sub-Saharan Africa, which is why we, as a Department, have committed up to £400 million to agricultural research over the coming years.