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Creed announces International Development Aid of over €28.5 million this year

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed T.D., today announced that international development aid expenditure for his Department for this year will exceed €28.5 million.

 

Minister Creed stated, “More than 800 million people in the world suffer from severe levels of food insecurity. My Department leads Ireland’s cooperation with the UN’s leading food agencies – the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO) - in their work towards the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030”.

 

The payments include a total contribution of €25.3 million to WFP, under a three-year strategic partnership agreement from 2019 to 2021.  WFP Executive Director, Mr David Beasley, thanked Ireland for its continued support, “The World Food Programme is grateful to Ireland for its flexible funding contributions, which allow us to reach some of the most vulnerable people in the world. WFP enjoys a strong partnership with Ireland, and we look forward to continuing our work together to combat global hunger and deliver the sustainable development goals.”.

 

Minister Creed also announced payments of €1.1 million for specific FAO projects, in addition to Ireland’s annual contribution of €1.4 million. These specific projects have  a strong focus on climate change & agriculture projects, agri-food innovation, a project on rural women’s economic empowerment and work on sustainable food systems. 

 

Payments of €1.3 million under the Africa Agri-food Development Programme (AADP), which is operated by DAFM in cooperation with  the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, were also made .

 

The Minister said, “In a global context Ireland has a long record of leadership on development issues. We have contributed to development policies and targets at the UN, and with our partner countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This reflects on our background as a people.  I know that the Irish farming community in particular feels a deep empathy with the challenges faced by farmers in developing countries.

 

"UN workers operate in very challenging conditions around the Globe.  In making this  year’s contributions, we remember especially those colleagues from FAO and WFP who lost their lives in the Ethiopian Airlines crash in March this year.  I am particularly mindful of the friends and families of Micheál Ryan, and Joanna Toole who face a difficult Christmas without these two incredible souls in this World.  We pay tribute to Micheál, Joanna and their colleagues by continuing to support their work" Minister Creed concluded.

 

 

Note to Editors

UN World Food Programme (WFP)

WFP is a United Nations organisation responsible for the delivery of food assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world partnering with other United Nations agencies, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations, civil society and the private sector to enable people, communities and countries to meet their own food needs. WFP is the largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide and is funded exclusively from voluntary contributions. Ireland’s three-year strategic partnership agreement with WFP amounts to €70million in total. In addition to DAFM’s core funding of WFP, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also provides funding to WFP for crisis programmes in specific countries and regions.

 

This year flexible funds provided by the Government of Ireland contributed to WFP’s operations in the most critical emergencies, enabling WFP to assist the most vulnerable population. In the Democratic Republic of Congo flexible funds allowed for a rapid tenfold scale-up of assistance; in Yemen flexible funding allocations contributed to WFP’s largest emergency response — a lifesaving operation and in Afghanistan WFP was able to provide fortified and nutritionally-balanced food assistance to vulnerable groups including people affected by conflict and disasters. Ireland flexible contributions have also supported operations in Syria, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, Madagascar and Zimbabwe.

 

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)

FAO is a United Nations organisation mandated to help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems and increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises.

 

The Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP)

The AADP is a joint initiative between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Objective of the AADP is to develop partnerships between the Irish Agri-Food Sector and African countries to support sustainable growth of the local food industry, build markets for local produce and support mutual trade between Ireland and Africa.

 

A Better World

This funding and the partnerships with WFP and FAO are within the framework of Ireland’s new policy for international development, “A Better World”, the whole of government policy  for Ireland’s development cooperation programme, on which the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine works closely with Irish Aid.

 

 

 

 

Total International Development Aid expenditure by DAFM 2019

WFP

Advance payment of 2020 Strategic Partnership Agreement commitment

€22,300,000

Payment of remainder of 2019 Strategic Partnership Agreement commitment

€3,000,000

FAO

 

FAO annual contribution

€1,441,415

Specific projects under auspices of FAO

 

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change workshop on Livestock (UNFCCC)

€50,000

Livestock Environmental Assessment Partnership (LEAP)

€50,000

Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture (GACSA) 

€45,000

International Year of Plant Health in 2020 (IYPH)

€100,000

Climate Smart Agriculture

€156,085

Climate Action for Sustainable Development

€155,000

Rural Women’s Economic Empowerment Facility

€155,000

Agri-Food Innovation – Towns

€155,000

Migration and Climate Change

€155,000

Sustainable Food Systems

€142,500

Total FAO Projects

€1,163,585

 

Africa Agri-food Development Programme

€662,889

Total

€28,567,889