Take action: Food Security and Famine Prevention in Africa

A 3-hour debate will take place on Thursday 15th September (11:30am), in the Main Chamber of the House of Commons on Food Security and Famine Prevention in Africa.

This is a great opportunity for MPs to raise the role of financial speculation which has been driving up global food prices and is exacerbating the effects of the famine.

Action: Email your MP to let them know about this debate and encourage them to attend and raise questions about price volatility being driven by excessive financial speculation.

Template email/letter

Dear …MP,
Following on from our correspondence/ meeting about food speculation, I would like to inform you about a 3 hour debate in the Main Chamber of House of Commons on Food Security and Famine Prevention in Africa. This will take place at 11.30am on Thursday 15th September. This would be a good opportunity to raise the role of excessive financial speculation in driving up global food prices and how price volatility is exacerbating the effects of the famine. It would be good if you could mention the increasing support for regulation from international institutions such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation as well as the move to regulate in the US. You may also find this piece interesting as the cost of food aid has doubled since 2001 http://www.wdm.org.uk/news/donations-crisis-appeals-buy-half-much-food-2001.

I have attached our briefing on excessive food speculation which will provide you with background information. In the meantime if you would like any further information please feel free to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

YOUR NAME

MP briefing

The details of the motion which MPs will be voting on at the end of the debate is as follows:
Food Security and Famine Prevention in Africa
That this House welcomes the contribution of the British public, via the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), and the British Government to the famine relief effort in the Horn of Africa;

Recognises that emergency food relief must always be the last resort and that improving the productivity and resilience of domestic agricultural systems in Africa must be a priority for the UK and international donor community;

Calls upon the Government to increase its focus on improving awareness around nutrition and agriculture in the developing world to support farmers and secure greater international food resilience and to champion the welfare of those in the developing world in the discussions on food price volatility at the upcoming G20 Summit in Cannes.