FOOD SECURITY: INCREASED SPENDING OVER NEXT THREE

UNCLAS LONDON 001642 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PREF DJ ER ET KE SO UG UK SUBJECT: FOOD SECURITY: INCREASED SPENDING OVER NEXT THREE YEARS REF: A. STATE 70789 ¶B. LONDON 1562 ¶1. (SBU) Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Special Advisor on Development, Brendan Cox, informed Emboff July 7 that food security is a G8 priority for the Prime Minister and that the UK Government will be increasing its food security and agriculture assistance to USD 1.8 billion over the next three years. Cox noted the importance of food security to Brown and referenced Brown's July 5 editorial on the topic. Highlighting his own background in campaigns against hunger, Brown said in the editorial that world hunger will increase with rising food prices and the global economic downturn. He argued that the G8 should work toward a common international system that allows developing countries to establish costed plans, similar to the African Union's agriculture program, and then identifies support for them. Brown also welcomed President Obama's new aid package for food security and noted the importance of access to food as a prerequisite to achieving the rest of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Confirming the UK Government's new assistance package for food security, Department for International Development (DFID) Food Security Officer Tessa MacArthur said the division of labor between the U.S. and UK on maternal health and food security that former DFID and current FCO Minister Ivan Lewis floated with the Charge in reftel B is "not a policy that is moving forward," with Lewis' departure from DFID. ¶2. (SBU) Responding to reftel A, MacArthur told Emboff July 14 that the newly announced USD 1.8 billion had not yet been programmed, but that DFID is closely tracking the situation in the Horn of Africa. In Ethiopia, the UK shares our concerns and has been very happy with the coordination on the ground, especially with regards to delivery and access. MacArthur said the UK has given GBP 24 million (USD 38.4 million) in 2009 to food security efforts in Ethiopia. On Somalia, she also affirmed the UK's concern, especially with the increasing numbers of IDPs displaced during the current instability in Mogadishu. The UK is also tracking the situation in Kenya, which is also concerning because of the increasing food insecurity and delivery problems. Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom LeBaron