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The current desert locust situation remains extremely alarming as more swarms form and mature in southern Ethiopia (Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (SNNPR)) and spread northward in the Somali region.
Mature and young swarms cross from Somalia into the Somali region and Dire Dawa city. Hoppers hatch in Shinele and near Dire Dawa city. Control operations have been launched in these areas.
The invasion of the desert locust represents an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods, coinciding with the rains and the planting season from February to May.
Although ground and air control operations are ongoing, the rains will allow the new swarms to stay in place, mature and lay eggs, while some swarms could be moved from Kenya to Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan.
During May 2020, more eggs will hatch and form new swarms in late June and July 2020, which coincides with the start of the Belgium crop harvest and the Meher season.
As of mid-September 2020, locusts hatching in summer breeding grounds and migrating south to winter breeding grounds in eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.
A joint assessment of the impact of desert locust on food security and livelihoods in Ethiopia, conducted by the Government of Ethiopia, FAO, the Agriculture Working Group, the Integrated Classification Technical Working Group of the Food Security Phase (IPC) and the Food Security Group, found that an estimated one million people in Ethiopia need emergency food assistance due to the invasion of desert locusts. Locusts have damaged some 200,000 ha of farmland and caused a loss of cereals of more than 356,000 tons.
According to the latest IPC analysis, an estimated 8.5 million people were already in severe acute food insecurity in Ethiopia before the invasion, a number expected to increase after the locust crisis and COVID-19, which is hampering deliveries and travel.
There is an urgent need to expand control operations and livelihood support for affected communities in Ethiopia (and the region as a whole) to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.
