APPG on Agriculture and Food for Development

The APPG was established by Parliamentarians in October 2008 in response to growing concerns over the heightening food crisis and a steady decline in the funding of agricultural research for international development at both bilateral and multilateral levels. Chaired by Lord Cameron of Dillington, it is a cross-party initiative drawing members from both Houses of the UK Parliament which aims to bring together Parliamentarians concerned with both the technical, and social science, of agriculture. It seeks to use its cross- party membership to improve support from the British Government for farmers and other stakeholders in developing countries whilst recognising the pivotal role that increased levels of agricultural research, and their outputs, can have in eliminating global poverty. Click here for further information (NB: new website from Apr 2013).  

Dominic Foster is the co-ordinator for the APPG. TAA played an important role in initiating the APPG through its membership of the UK Forum on Agricultural Research for Development.

APPG PRESS RELEASE

16/05/13

Contact: Dominic Foster - fosterdj@parliament.uk 07881827796

Parliamentarians urge government to increase investment in agriculture to end global hunger

 "It is abundantly clear that sustained long-term investment in agriculture for development is crucial to rural livelihoods. It can have truly transformational impacts both in terms of the rural economy and in terms of poverty and hunger alleviation.”

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development

Parliamentarians of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development* are calling on the UK Government, and specifically the Department for International Development, to invest in agriculture to combat the hunger that 925 million people around the world are undernourished face every day - in a Parliamentary Report, on "Home Grown Nutrition”.

The report’s recommendations come ahead of a high level meeting that will be co-hosted by the UK government on 8 June.  ‘The Nutrition for Growth: Beating Hunger through Business and Science’ meeting will be held in the build-up to the G8 summit in Northern Ireland and bring together business leaders, scientists, governments and civil society to make the ambitious commitments needed to tackle nutrition in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Building on the issues raised by the Hunger Summit held in London last summer, which highlighted the devastating consequences of undernutrition on children, it is expected that as a result of this next meeting the UK will make financial pledges to support work on nutrition.

Lord Cameron of Dillington, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development, stated that, "Agriculture is the basis of many, if not all, pathways to improved nutrition. All development goals and interventions are strengthened by a productive agricultural sector.”

Agriculture as a development theme has been chronically underfunded by the Department of International Development in the past and the APPG of Agriculture and Food for Development urge the government to make sure agriculture is no longer overlooked. Investments in agriculture must be seen as a long term project, putting smallholder farmers at the centre of such programmes.

Professor Andrew Westby said, "The Natural Resources Institute** welcomes this timely report, we believe that smallholder farmers are crucial to addressing the challenges of global hunger, and more sustained support for them would be a positive step towards greater food and nutrition security worldwide.”

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Lord Ewen Cameron of Dillington, the Group’s Co-Chair, is available for comment and interview.

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact: Dominic Foster

Tel: 07881827796,

Email: fosterdj@parliament.uk 

*The All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development (APPG) was established by Parliamentarians in October 2008 in response to growing concerns over the heightening food crisis. Co-Chaired by Heidi Alexander MP and Lord Cameron of Dillington, the APPG seeks to bring together Parliamentarians concerned with agriculture, nutrition and wider food security in the developing world. This cross-party group aims to engender progressive and informed debate within Westminster and beyond by bridging the gap between policy makers and practitioners in the field whilst also giving a voice to the 700 million smallholder farmers worldwide. The Group’s website can be found at: www.appg-agdev.co.uk 

**The Natural Resources Institute is a specialized Institute and School of the University of Greenwich. The Institute currently has about 70 scientific, academic and technical staff, working in a wide range of disciplines in the natural and social sciences. NRI staff work on bringing interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches to bear on issues of natural-resource management, especially to improve the quality of life of the rural and urban poor.

"Home Grown Nutrition” Report can be found by clicking here.