Agriculture in the United Kingdom fund the purchase as a mortgage. The Council could not refuse without the Minister of Agriculture's permission. In 1919 the Board of Agriculture and the Ministry of Food were merged to form the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, which later became the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF). MAFF was in turn the predecessor of DEFRA. Before the Second World War started, Britain imported 55 million tons of food a year. By the end of 1939, this had dropped to 12 million, and food rationing was introduced at the start of 1940. It did not completely end until July
Rationing for collecting the rations from food distribution centres. The amount of 2,100 kcal allocated per person per day is based on minimal standards and frequently not achieved, such as in Kenya. According to article 20 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees refugees shall be treated at least like nationals in relation to rationing, if there is a general rationing system in place, used for the population at large. As the British Royal Commission on the National Health Service observed in 1979, "whatever the expenditure on health care, demand is likely to rise to meet and exceed it."