Minister McConalogue announces International Development Aid payments of €28.9 million
- Published on: 22 December 2021
- Last updated on: 29 December 2021
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue T.D., today announced that his Department’s international development assistance for 2021 totalled €28.9 million. This includes an advance payment of Ireland’s 2022 commitment of €25 million to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), under Ireland’s new Strategic Partnership Agreement 2022-2024 with WFP, signed earlier this month.
Minister McConalogue said,
“Food insecurity continues to rise across the world driven by the collective impact of conflict, the climate crisis and COVID-19, taking hunger and malnutrition to unprecedented levels. 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.”
“This year we reinforced Ireland’s partnership and support of their work by entering a new Strategic Partnership Agreement with WFP and a first Framework Agreement with FAO. The dramatic worsening of world hunger in 2021 calls for us to transform our global agri-food systems. Ireland is a leading voice in advocating for global food systems transformation, based on our own appreciation of the central importance of farming, fishing and food production to our rural and coastal communities. We are strongly supporting the UN agencies in this work, including through the follow-up to the Food Systems Summit and through our own Food Vision 2030 strategy”.
WFP Executive Director, Mr David Beasley, thanked Ireland for its continued support,
“The UN World Food Programme is grateful to the Government and people of Ireland for their sustained support, especially for our operations in Syria and neighbouring countries. We appreciate Ireland’s commitment to a world free from hunger and we look forward to continuing our important partnership”.
Minister McConalogue also announced payments of €2.1 million for specific FAO projects and programmes, in addition to Ireland’s annual assessed contribution of €1.56 million. These specific projects have a strong focus on climate change resilience; emergency agricultural assistance; rural women’s economic empowerment; and work on sustainable food systems.
Payments of €206,000 under the Africa Agri-food Development Programme (AADP), which is operated by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, were also made.
Note to Editors
UN World Food Programme (WFP)
WFP is a United Nations organisation responsible fighting hunger worldwide and is funded exclusively from voluntary contributions. 811 million people are chronically hungry. 283 million are in hunger crises with 45 million people in 43 countries across the globe in near famine. Sustainable Development Goal 2, Zero Hunger, pledges to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture, and is the priority of the WFP.
WFP in numbers
• 115.5 million people in 84 countries received assistance from WFP in 2020 through food or cash distributions in emergencies, nutrition support programmes and participation in activities to build resilience to climate and other shocks.
• 5.6K trucks 100 aircraft and 30 ships are on the go on any given day, enabling WFP to prevent people from falling into famine and deliver vital food and other assistance to those who need it the most.
• 17 million children across the world received nutritious meals from WFP, which allowed them to concentrate on their learning and develop their full potential.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is the lead Department for the Irish Government’s relationship with the World Food Programme, the UN’s frontline humanitarian agency. The WFP-Ireland SPA 2022-2024 contains a commitment from Ireland to increase core funding to €75m. This includes a €5 million per year allocation to WFP’s trust fund for hunger-related climate change; and an €8 million annual allocation to the WFP Syrian emergency response.
In addition to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s core funding to WFP, Irish Aid in the Department of Foreign Affairs also provides funding to WFP for crisis programmes in specific countries and regions. Department of Foreign Affairs funding to WFP is over €23 million for the period 2019-21.
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. Further details of the partnership between Ireland and the FAO are outlined in the report which is available at gov.ie - FAO + Ireland: Partnering for a Peaceful, Equal and Sustainable World.
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.
International Development Assistance - DAFM 2021 €
World Food Programme Advance payment of 2021 Strategic Partnership Agreement commitment €25,000,000
Food and Agriculture Organisation Ireland - FAO Assessed Contribution 2021 €1,557,347
Emergency Agricultural Assistance to Communities Affected by Farmer-Herder Conflicts in Northwest Nigeria €442,000
Emergency assistance to safeguard livelihoods of drought-affected pastoralist households in two counties, Kenya €442,000
Ireland-FAO collaboration on strengthening agri-food system assessments, multi-stakeholder mechanisms and integrated policy making €350,000
Project to co-design country food systems transformation supports post UN Foods System Summit €300,000
Support funding up to a maximum 50 persons from developing countries to attend the 11th World Potato Congress (WPC) in Dublin, May 202 €100,000
Pilot Programme Empowering Female Rural Entrepreneurs in Mexico €100,000
Ongoing contribution for the International Day of Plant Health €75,000
Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance Partnership (LEAP) €60,000
Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture Facilitation Unit (GACSA) €60,000
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plant (UPOV) €51,500
Support for the e-Phyto system, a global certification scheme €50,000
Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL) €30,000
Support funding to establish the FAO Committee on Agriculture (COAG) Sub-Committee on Livestock €25,000
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources €11,000
FAO Total €3,653,847
Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP)
2021 AADP project funding €206,000
Total €28,859,847