Have a Good NEWS

3.05pm

Sandys says the rush for biofuels is a factor in rising food prices, along with population growth and urbanisation.

From Felicity Lawrence: Eilidh Whiteford SNP joined Joan Ruddock, Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford, in focusing on climate change as the underlying cause of famine and the need for governments to tackle it to avoid future famines.

but is it blame for famine in the Horn of Africa? Last month Duncan Green said it's impossible to answer that question with a simple yes or no. Instead, he gave us a great summary of what we think we know so far.

. Despite the engagement on the issues

1.50pm

Mitchell has just concluded his remarks with the emotive words that 400,000 people, mainly children, are in danger of dying as a result of famine. "You cannot put price on life, but you can on saving one," he says. It's time for other countries "to reach deeper into their pockets".

Mitchell sets out what DfID has done and is doing to address the crisis, and will be discussing the issue at the UN next week.

Now we turn to Heidi Alexander. If we want to consign famine and chronic hunger in Africa to history, "we have to ask some tough questions" about governments' response to an emerging crisis, how can we support small-scale agriculture, and are we too complacent about food price volatility, commodities speculation, biofuel land grabs and export bans.

Here are some figures. According to DfID, UK aid to the Horn of Africa is being spent as follows:
Ethiopia: Food aid for 1.36 million people plus shelter, water and medical support for 100,000 people in the Dolo Ado refugee camps