
Cross-Border Campaign Needed to Combat Locust Upsurge in Eastern Africa
By Abdi Ali
Published January 21, 2020
Unprecedented swarms of destructive desert locust in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia could swell exponentially and spill over into more countries in eastern Africa if efforts to combat the pest are not scaled up across the region.
Heavy rains that have been experienced since October 2019, are said to have created a favourable condition for the breeding of the desert Locusts that are destroying crops and pasture across the Horn of Africa.
“This has become a situation of international dimensions that threatens the food security of the entire subregion. FAO is activating fast-track mechanisms that will allow us to move swiftly to support governments in mounting a collective campaign to deal with this crisis,” says QU Dongyu, Director-General of United Nations’ World Food Programme (FAO).
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Calling on international support to deal with the crop-devouring insects, FAO says the swarms of locusts could grow 500 times by June 2020 due to weather
conditions that favour rapid locust reproduction.
FAO says swarms of locusts can move 150 kilometres a day, devastating livelihoods in their relentless drive to eat and reproduce.
Swarms continue to pour into Kenya from Ethiopia and Somalia and are rapidly spreading to the centre of the country.
In Ethiopia, the insects are moving steadily south towards the Rift Valley, the country’s breadbasket.
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Ethiopia and Somalia have not seen Desert Locust swarms of this scale in 25 years, while Kenya has not faced a locust threat of this magnitude in 70 years.
Though South Sudan and Uganda are not currently affected, FAO warns they are at risk. Eritrea and Sudan, on the other hand, are affected alongside Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya.
FAO says it is providing forecasts, early warning and alerts on the timing, scale and location of invasions and breeding.
The speed of the pest’s spread and the size of the infestations are so far beyond the norm that they have stretched the capacities of local and national
authorities to the limit.
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Given the scale of the current swarms and that aerial control is the only effective means to reduce the locust numbers, FAO says, aerial operations need to
be upscaled substantially and very quickly in Ethiopia and Kenya.
FAO says it needs US$70 million to urgently support both pest control and livelihood protection operations in the three most affected countries.