A unique twinning between the kingdom of Lesotho and the kingdom of Kerry gets under way today with the visit of Mayor of Kerry Toiréasa Ferris and representatives of organisations from the county to the small African state.
Twinning projects in Kerry in recent years have concentrated on establishing links that are likely to promote tourism to Killarney and Dingle in particular. However, Lesotho is among the world's poorest countries and the visit to Africa follows an appeal by Lesotho's ambassador to Ireland to Kerry County Council last September.
Mannete M Ramaili told the council that since independence from Britain in 1966, Lesotho was struggling to develop tourism and other industries.
Local government elections were held in 2004 and Ms Ramaili appealed for support for the newly established local authorities.
The visit has been described as a fact finding mission by Kerry Action for Development Organisation (Kade), which is involved in a number of projects, including the promotion of Fair Trade in Kerry.
Kade chairman Paul Hanrahan, who left for Lesotho at the weekend, said individuals and small direct links had the potential to make a huge difference in tackling world poverty.
The twinning will take place in Kerry in April.