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Mohammed Ali, 30, a shepherd, is visibly tired, but tirelessly searches for pasture for his cattle under the scorching sun. It carries more than 400 head of cattle from Ewa to Asayta Woreda in the Afar region. Although herders like Mohammed are used to making the annual 200km walk in January when the rains stop, they were forced to make the trip in October, three months earlier.
“Desert locusts destroyed all natural grasses, including the green vegetation cover. Our cattle would starve if we didn’t move, ”he said.
According to Ayalew Shumet, the Afar region’s desert locust operations coordinator, around 10 million head of cattle in the region are currently affected by a shortage of natural pastures. Because herders depend on the climate and environment to ensure their livestock feed, they are greatly affected by the damage that desert locusts have caused to pastures.
Desert locusts have also destroyed entire farm fields leaving farmers and local authorities concerned. Hussein Hundolpe vividly remembers the day locusts sadly invaded his six-hectare corn field in Afambo Woreda.
“My family and I work hard to clean the field. I bought an irrigation pump and fuel and made sure my corn crop got enough water. When the plants were about a meter high, the locusts devoured everything in a few hours, “he said.
In recounting the incident, Ahmed’s neighbor, Fatouma, said that a large swarm covered the sky over her village.
“We threw objects at them, but nothing helped. Although the government acted quickly to spray the swarm, the damage had already been done. All the farmers in our town lost their entire harvest of corn and sorghum, ”he said.
The Afar region has faced an unprecedented locust invasion since August this year. Despite ongoing control efforts, numerous hoppers bands have caused immense damage in 33 of the 34 woredas in the region.
“Farmers need urgent support to re-plant their crops and herders need an emergency food supply, otherwise food security in the region is at risk,” said Wogris Hafa, head of the Office of Livestock, Agriculture and Natural Resources of Chifra Woreda.
Ethiopia has been fighting locusts since June 2019. As of October 21, 2020, more than 607,000 hectares of land had been fumigated through air and ground operations. Despite these efforts, the threat of the Desert Locust prevails due to transboundary movements and favorable conditions for reproduction that prevail in the country. Numerous groups of immature adults and swarms still roam the Amhara / Tigray highlands and the Somali region (Desert Locust Situation Update: Oct 19, 2020).
Floods compound the risk
Between June and September 2020, intense and prolonged rains caused floods in Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Gambella, nations, nationalities and peoples of the south (SNNP) ‘, Sidama and the Somali regions, which affect more than one million people, with around 350,000 displaced.
In Aysaqita Woreda, in the Afar region, Medina Solea recounts how the floods that overflowed the Awash River washed away all his household properties, livestock and crops.
“We ran into the mountains from where we were rescued by a helicopter.”
Madina, who now lives in an IDP camp with her family of 10, says: “We have nothing to start with.”
Although the Awash River is frequently flooded in August / September after heavy rains in the mountainous and rugged eastern areas, this year’s floods are unmatched, according to Aydahis Yasin, the region’s director of early warning and emergency response. of Afar.
“More than 46,000 hectares of farmland and 26,000 hectares of pasture in Afar were destroyed by the floods,” he said.
Food safety at stake
According to the latest Integrated Classification of Food Safety Phases (CPI), around 6.7 million people (in seven regions) are expected to suffer from high food insecurity, in Crisis (CPI Phase 3), or worse between October and December 2020.
However, the new wave of desert locusts, exacerbated by economic difficulties resulting from COVID-19-19, and floods are likely to amplify food insecurity unless urgent action is taken to help affected communities.
FAOthe answer
Along with efforts to control desert locusts, FAO is implementing a program to safeguard the productive assets and livelihoods of the affected population in Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somalia, SNNPand Tigray regions. The Organization is supporting more than 70,000 households with agricultural inputs (seeds, tools, livestock feed, and veterinary drugs), cash transfers, training, and outreach support. These interventions were reported by the $ 79 million May-December 2020 Funding Appeal, which is now 60 percent funded.
“With the growing humanitarian needs, we need more funds to support more households,” said Fatouma Seid, the FAO Representative in Ethiopia.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
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