Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue will travel to Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan from 13 to 18 March for St Patrick's Day.

The international development mission will underpin Ireland’s role as a leading donor to the World Food Programme (WFP) and continued engagement with the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

The Minister will visit various programmes which support humanitarian development with a focus on agricultural knowledge transfer and food system transformation.

The visit will also involve key bilateral meetings with ministerial counterparts and administrative representatives at national, regional and local levels.

Ireland’s commitment

Speaking ahead of the visit, Minister McConalogue credited Ireland’s commitment to tackling food security.

"We are not just aiming to alleviate immediate hunger, but also working diligently towards the sustainable development goal of achieving zero hunger by 2030," he said.

He added that he wants to use his visit to east Africa to “highlight the importance of our continued support to both the UN World Food Programme and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation".

The mission

The international development mission begins this Wednesday in Kenya with a visit to the Kakuma Refugee Camp, Turkana, to see first-hand the humanitarian work of the WFP.

The Minister will tour the food commodities and food distribution locations, meet refugee representatives and visit the self-reliance projects including the water harvesting structure and horticulture farm.

He will then travel on to the Afar region in eastern Ethiopia, visiting Ireland’s NGO WFP delivery partner projects, including an enhanced resilience food system project designed to improve sustainable livelihoods through efficiency in irrigation and water usage.

The visit will conclude in South Sudan, where the Minister will meet with government counterparts, visit WFP projects and engage with Irish-supported NGOs working in the region.

As part of the St Patricks’ Day programme, this visit will also focus on deepening bilateral connections with all three countries, promoting Ireland’s values and interests and on engaging with the Irish diaspora.