Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09LONDON1642
2009-07-16 10:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy London
Cable title:
FOOD SECURITY: INCREASED SPENDING OVER NEXT THREE
how-toVZCZCXRO8924 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHLO #1642 1971003 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 161003Z JUL 09 FM AMEMBASSY LONDON TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2881 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
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
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
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