Environment Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 9 May 2011.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she proposes to take with her G20 counterparts to (a) address global food price inflation and (b) encourage greater food security.
The UK Government are committed to promoting the better functioning of agricultural markets, which will help to mitigate future price spikes. We are working with France during their G20 Presidency to improve the transparency and availability of global agricultural market data (particularly with regard to global stock levels) and tackle export restrictions.
Global food security is a long-term challenge. Domestic production in developed economies has a role to play. It is a priority in our departmental business plan to support and develop farming to build capacity for sustainable production both in the UK and globally, which will help our food supply be resilient to shocks and crises.
International trade also has an important role in providing food security. We are a trading nation in a global market and the UK is a significant exporter of wheat, lamb, dairy products and breakfast cereals. Our own food security depends on access to the world market; and our domestic food industry needs to be able to compete on the world stage.
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