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A parliamentary report on assessing the socio-economic impact of the persistent desert locust in Ethiopia indicated that at least 1.3 million people are at risk of food insecurity.
The joint report of the standing committees on agricultural affairs, pastoralists and environmental protection, and foreign affairs and peace affairs of the House of People’s Representatives (HPR) noted that more than 870,000 hectares of agricultural land have been damaged by swarms of lobsters.
The legislators’ evaluation was carried out in the regional states of Oromia, Amhara and Afar, and in the Dire-Dawa city administration for ten consecutive days. The committees presented their finding in the presence of the Speaker of the Chamber, Tagese Chafo, and other government officials.
The impact of the locust swarm invasion exceeds 468,000 hectares of agricultural land in the eastern and western Harerge areas of the Oromia regions, endangering the livelihoods of nearly 500,000 people.
The swarm has also damaged the harvest on about 392,000 hectares of farmland and threatens the lives of more than 795,000 farmers in the Amhara region, mainly in the northern and southern Wollo zonal administration, along with the Oromo special zone. region of.
The city of Dire-Dawa is also battling the locust swarm, and so far the swarm has damaged more than 5,200 hectares of farmland, putting the lives of 48,000 people at risk. The report further noted that the damage inflicted by the locust swarm in the Afar region is proportional to that of Dire Dawa.
Responding to questions from members of parliament on how preventive measures are progressing, Agriculture Minister Umer Hussein spoke of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to procure additional aircraft to conduct surveys and conduct aerial spraying at selected locations along with its plan to distribute 35,000 tablets for communication with lower levels of government officials to take swift action against the sudden appearance of locust swarms.
