11:30 Desmond Swayne (Conservative)

The 10th replenishment, which covers the period from 2016 to 2018, is intended to raise $1.44 billion in order to disburse loans and grants to the tune of $3 billion. The United Kingdom’s share is to be some £57 million, which equates to some £19 million per year. That is an increase of £2 million per year from the last disbursement —the last was £17 million per year—or of some 15%. I believe that that increase reflects the identity of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and its objectives as well as our own preoccupations, particularly in preparing for climate change and gender issues. We will remain the second largest donor and an active member of the governing body.

On 3 November, I launched our new agricultural framework at the all-party group on agriculture and food for development. At the centre of our new approach is support for smallholders. That is vital because they feed a third of the world’s population and indeed, in developing countries, feed 90% of the population. If the world is to support some 9 billion souls by 2050, despite the disadvantages of climate change and the increase in plant and animal disease consequent on climate change, we will need to maximise the productivity of those smallholders and their economic potential. In effect, we will have to enable them to become commercial farmers.

Increasingly, the fund is focused on building resilience to climate change. It runs the largest global fund dedicated to supporting the adaptation of smallholders to climate change, to which we have contributed significantly—I am afraid that the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme comes with the unpleasant acronym ASAP, but perhaps there is urgency in the agenda. The fund is consistent with and abides by the international aid transparency initiative.

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11:36 Diane Abbott (Labour)

The Opposition welcome the Government’s increased replenishment of the International Fund for Agricultural Development. It comes at a crucial time, particularly with the financial issues facing the World Food Programme and the ever-decreasing levels of food security, which are partly due to climate change.

We note that the Government have given generously to the fund, and they have even specifically given money in the past few years to alleviate the effects of climate change. However, getting money out of the door means nothing if steps are not taken to make this process sustainable.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development has focused particularly on the effects of climate change on agriculture in poor rural communities. Although climate change is not the subject of this statutory instrument, Her Majesty’s Government should note that unless we reach a global deal on carbon emissions in Paris in a few weeks, many of the agricultural projects that we have funded and continue to fund will be under threat.

In conclusion, we support the replenishment in principle. We advise the Government that we want maximum transparency and accountability on the fund’s outcomes. With the upcoming Paris climate change summit, the UN World Food Programme’s problems and, above all, the effects of climate change on global food production, the replenishment could not be more timely.

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11:40 Desmond Swayne (Conservative)

We are currently working through the multilateral aid review, in which we closely examine the fit with all our international partners to ensure that their view of the development agenda fits with ours; that they share our focus on women and girls, on climate change and on economic development; and, equally, that they meet the standards we require on transparency. I hope that we continue with a consensual approach to international development. I am confident that we share the same aims, even if we might differ on some essentials. Nevertheless, I thank her for supporting this order.

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