Combating hunger is a cornerstone of our development programme and our foreign policy. We have undertaken to direct approximately 20 per cent of the Irish Aid budget on hunger and hunger related actions by 2012. We are firmly on track to meet this target notwithstanding the current difficult economic circumstances. Ireland's leadership in this area is recognised internationally. We spent approximately €85 million on hunger and hunger related areas in 2009 and expect to maintain a similar, or possibly slightly higher, level of spending in 2010.
In framing the aid budget for 2010, I have at all times prioritised initiatives which tackle hunger and protect the world's poorest and most vulnerable. Significant resources are currently focussed on hunger reduction initiatives in our Programme Countries, in particular Malawi, Tanzania and Ethiopia. Through our support for agencies such as UNICEF we are targeting child malnutrition, and Irish humanitarian support continues to provide emergency food relief to those with the most urgent needs. In addition, Irish Aid funding for global hunger initiatives, including pro-poor agricultural research, is expected to reach approximately €9.7m this year.
The Government is committed to giving effect to the recommendations of the Report of the Hunger Task Force which we commissioned and which was launched by the Taoiseach at the UN in New York in September 2008 in the presence of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In particular, we continue to work on the three priority areas identified, namely: increasing smallholder agricultural productivity in Africa; targeting under-nutrition, especially maternal and infant; and promoting governance and leadership action on tackling global hunger. We are making good progress in implementing the recommendations of the Report across the Irish Aid programme. Ireland's Special Envoy on Hunger, Kevin Farrell, will report on the progress that we and our partners are making towards the end of this year.
Ireland is recognised on the international stage as being a strong leader and a credible partner in the fight against global hunger, and is a major global advocate on food security. Earlier this week we hosted, together with Concern and the UN, an important international conference on global hunger to encourage comprehensive action to tackle this scourge. Next September we will co-host with the US a major event on hunger and under-nutrition at the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals. This event will bring together world leaders to highlight the importance of eradicating global hunger and improving nutrition in the households of the most poor. These are practical examples of Ireland shaping and influencing the international response to the scandal of world hunger.
Although global hunger, in all its manifestations and complexity, will not be easily eliminated, we can make it happen if the international community takes concerted action. We have a clear international target, the hunger target of the first Millennium Development Goal, to halve the number of hungry by 2015. The realisation of all of the other MDGs will be undermined if food, the most basic of all human needs, is not available or easily accessed by all. The Government will continue to ensure that Ireland plays its role in all efforts to eradicate the scourge of global hunger.