Ireland's 2014 report under EU food and nutrition security plan

"Boosting food and nutrition security through EU action: implementing our commitments"

As a country with historic experience of famine, combating hunger has long been at the forefront of Ireland’s development policy, which is an integral part of Ireland’s wider foreign policy. Combating global hunger and under-nutrition is a cornerstone of our overseas development assistance programme, Irish Aid.

The Government commissioned Hunger Task Force Report, published in 2008, continues to guide Ireland’s response to addressing global hunger and under-nutrition, and improving food & nutrition security. Three areas in particular are prioritised: helping poor smallholder, and women, farmers in Africa to increase their agricultural productivity; targeting under-nutrition in mothers and children; and promoting governance and leadership action to reduce global hunger and under-nutrition at both national and international level.

Over 200 food and nutrition security projects and programmes were supported through a wide range of partners with a particular focus on Irish Aid’s Key Partner Countries.

In 2012, €116.67 million of Ireland’s total ODA was invested in improving food and nutrition security to benefit the world’s poorest and most vulnerable households and communities, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 200 food and nutrition security projects and programmes were supported through a wide range of partners with a particular focus on Irish Aid’s Key Partner Countries.

In 2012, Irish Aid delivered on its target of directing 20% of its budget towards hunger reduction and improving food and nutrition security. Over two-thirds of Ireland’s 2012 investment focused on improving smallholder farmers’ resilience and rural livelihoods, and one quarter of our investment focused on enhancing nutrition, in particular for mothers, infants and children.

The EU Food & Nutrition Security Implementation Plan was endorsed by the Council of the EU last year during Ireland’s Presidency of the European Union as an important accountability tool to ensure that the EU and its Member States are held to account in delivering on the policy commitments they agreed to at EU level. All Member States agreed to submit biennial reports beginning in 2014 setting out what we are doing where, and with whom, to improve food & nutrition security.

Ireland’s report will, together with other Member States’ and EC reports, feed into the development of a consolidated EU progress report later this year. This EU Report will serve as a baseline report and provide an assessment of the current situation regarding EU’s efforts to address food and nutrition security. Successive reports in 2016, 2018 and 2020 should help demonstrate incremental improvements in delivering our commitments over this period, and communicate increasing improvements in how well the EU and its Member States work in terms of coherence, complementarity and coordination in addressing food and nutrition insecurity.

Ireland's 2014 report under eu food and nutrition security plan

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