Canada lost its last bid for a security council seat in 2010 when tiny Portugal won more support.

For more than six weeks the 15-member council has been trying to agree on a text that ultimately aims to back a March 23 call by U.N. chief Antonio Guterres for a ceasefire in global conflicts so the world can focus on the pandemic.

Trudeau is on a farm in Keri, about 50 kilometres outside the capital of Dakar, to witness how $14 million in Canadian aid over the last 10 years helped stimulate vegetable production.

Even if Canada doesn't win a Security Council seat, diplomats say its campaign in Africa for the spot has already yielded benefits for the country.

Trudeau is in Addis Ababa to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahle-Work Zewde.

The eight-day trip is designed largely to woo support from African nations as Canada tries to secure a seat on the United Nations Security Council in June.

Trudeau will start in Ethiopia, the continent's fastest-growing economy, which is the headquarters of the African Union.

Analysts say Canada's spending commitments on foreign aid and personnel contributions to UN peacekeeping are at all-time lows.

Canada is seeking a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, considered the most powerful UN body, for two years beginning Jan. 1, 2021.

To win a UN Security Council seat, Canada may have to change its position on reforming the very council it seeks to join.