Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the roll out of the Africa agri-food development fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42199/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Since I launched the pilot phase of the AADF in March of this year with my colleagues, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Minister of State for Trade and Development there have been a number of steps in its implementation including:

- An assessment mission to the two host Countries for the Fund, Kenya and Tanzania, in April comprising an official from each of the two lead Departments and Enterprise Ireland as well as the Chief Agricultural Adviser from the Irish Embassy in Dar es Salaam. The team held 26 separate meetings with government, private sector, international agricultural researchers, public academic and research institutions and Irish citizens currently involved in business. Five site visits included factories, retail outlets, food markets and research centres. The Mission validated the establishment of the AADF in particular the increasing use of catalytic funding to stimulate trade and investment in the region. The Mission also identified opportunities in each country for follow up and recommended that the AADF maintains its primary focus on business to business partnerships as the best means of achieving value for input.

- In June I hosted a seminar with relevant Irish Agri-Food companies who may participate in the Fund. The purpose of this seminar was two-fold:

1. An opportunity to gauge private sector interest in participation in the Fund in order to help decide on next steps;

2. Provide Information for Irish food companies on doing business in Africa.

The seminar had presentations from:

- The Assessment team on the outcome of their April visit;

- Irish Embassy Tanzania on support for Irish business from Irish Embassy Network in Africa;

- Glanbia on a case study of their business venture in Senegal;

- Barclays Bank on support from the banking sector for business in Africa.

The seminar was very successful and I was very pleased with the positive feedback from the food companies present which was that they found it informative and were now actively considering participation in the Fund. The success of the Fund ultimately rests on the level of engagement by these companies.

Since the seminar, officials in both Departments have been following up bilaterally with interested companies on possible partnership ventures in Africa and have also been discussing with Bord Bia and the Irish Embassy in Tanzania as to how to take implementation of the Fund further.

In addition to the above, my colleague the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign affairs visited Kenya in July. The Tánaiste visited one of the companies identified in the assessment mission as a potential partner for Irish agri-business companies. This company has also been invited by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to participate as a panellist at the forthcoming Africa Ireland Economic Forum on 22 October 2012.

In keeping with the open and transparent nature of the Fund, any latest developments are placed on my Department’s website along with contact details for interested participants. The success of the Fund ultimately rests on the level of engagement by Irish agri-food companies and I am hopeful that its pilot phase will see sustainable partnerships developed between the Irish and African agri-food sectors.