To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional funds they have or will commit to research over the next three years as part of the G8 $20 billion commitment for global food security which states “investment in and access to education, research, science and technologies should be substantially strengthened at national, regional and international level”. [HL2508]

In 2008 the Secretary of State for International Development made a commitment to double funding to international agricultural research, reaching a target of £80 million per year by 2013. This commitment was reaffirmed in the recent White Paper, Eliminating World Poverty: Building our Common Future.

The Department for International Development (DfID) is on track to meet this target. In the current financial year, DfID has spent more than £61 million on international agricultural research, contributing to the total UK support to food and agriculture of over £1 billion.