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Addis Ababa, October 31 (IANS): A new generation of desert locusts, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and recurring floods threatened food security in Ethiopia, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned.
The FAO, which warned that “food security is at stake” in the East African country, stressed that urgent action is needed to mitigate the impact, the Xinhua news agency reported.
“The new wave of desert locusts, exacerbated by economic difficulties resulting from Covid-19 restrictions, and flooding will likely amplify food insecurity unless urgent action is taken to help affected communities,” FAO said in its last situation update published on Friday. .
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, around 6.7 million people in seven regions of Ethiopia are expected to be highly food insecure, or worse, between October and December 2020.
Along with efforts to control desert locusts, FAO is implementing an initiative that aims to safeguard the productive assets and livelihoods of the affected population.
The organization is supporting more than 70,000 households with agricultural inputs, cash transfers, training, and outreach support.
FAO also requested funding from the world community to address threats to food security in the East African country.
“With the growing humanitarian needs, we need more funds to support more households,” said Fatouma Seid, FAO Representative in Ethiopia, according to an FAO statement.
Since June 2019, the East African country has been experiencing the worst desert locust invasion in about 25 years, affecting the country’s main crop-producing areas.
The desert locust, which is considered “the most dangerous of the nearly a dozen species of locusts,” is a major food security hazard in the desert areas of 20 countries, which extend from West Africa to India and cover almost 16 million square meters. kilometers, according to the United Nations.
As Ethiopia suffers from the locust invasion, the Chinese government last week donated batches of much-needed anti-locust supplies to the East African country to fight the dangerous plague.
The batch of anti-locust donations by the Chinese government, among other things, includes 72 tons of pesticides, 2,000 units of portable ULV sprayers and 20,000 sets of personal protective equipment, it was noted.
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