asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have received reports about a potential famine in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and neighbouring states in India following the flowering of bamboos and the destruction of crops and food stores by the growing rat population; and what contribution they will make to the World Food Programme for emergency assistance to this situation. [HL2593]

The UK Government are aware of the food shortage occurring in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh and in north-eastern India, receiving reports on the CHT crisis from both the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The UNDP will be conducting a needs assessment mission in the CHT, and the European Community for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) is doing so in Mizoram, north-eastern India. These assessments will provide the UK Government, as well as donor partners, a basis to consider the scale of the problem and the needs identified. We will then be able to evaluate how best the international community can respond to this crisis, in consultation with both the Governments of Bangladesh and India. Under an agreement with the Government of India, UN agencies and other donors cannot respond to a humanitarian emergency unless formally requested to do so by the Union Government.