Plaid Cymru spent £25,000 on beekeeping classes for disabled Ugandans

Critics have slammed the scheme, which includes financial literacy training for LGBTQI+ people, as “ridiculous”.

The previous Labour administration signed off on the payments, but Plaid Cymru, a nationalist party that “puts Wales first”, has continued them.

Documents reveal the Wales and Africa Grants Scheme spent just shy of £300,000 on foreign aid projects for the financial year 2025/26.

That sum includes £25,000 to fund an initiative to provide beekeeping classes to 150 disabled men and 150 disabled women in Uganda and Ghana.

The scheme says it would “train organisations in Uganda, Ghana and Wales in disability-inclusive beekeeping to reach marginalised people” and develop a “disability-inclusive beekeeping training package”.

Another grant of just under £22,000 for LGBTQI+ Ugandans who have been “excluded from education and work”, and help participants “gain skills, confidence, and resilience”.

Another £20,000 has gone to a radio phone-in scheme to connect “Montgomeryshire farmers to Ugandan farmers”.

Reform UK, the opposition in the Senedd, said it was “no wonder Labour were booted out of Wales for wasting money like this”.

Cai Parry-Jones, the party’s Welsh finance spokesman, told The Telegraph: “It’s ridiculous the Welsh Government spends money on these projects abroad, and it’s no wonder Labour were booted out of Wales for wasting money like this.

“The new Plaid government also supports this international spending, so expect more of the same.

“Taxpayers in Wales are already paying for UK foreign aid. It’s outrageous that the Welsh Government makes them pay twice.”

Mr Parry-Jones said the foreign aid should be spent on fixing a crumbling NHS service, citing “rising waiting lists and missed cancer treatments”.

Reform in Wales will “be holding Plaid’s feet to the fire” as proactive opposition, he said.

He added: “Charity begins at home, and it’s time we put the Welsh people first. Welsh money should be for Wales. Full stop.”

The Wales and Africa Grant Scheme has received Welsh Government funds since 2013 to support the country’s delivery of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The Welsh Government awards funds to charities in Wales, which then divert them to initiatives in Africa.

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Wales is a confident, outward-looking nation that takes its global responsibilities seriously. Individual projects reflect decisions taken by previous administrations, but this Government is looking to the future.

“Our new International Strategy will set out our ambitions for Wales in the world, the values that will guide us, and how we will work with partners to forge a new path, both at home and internationally, which put those values into action.”