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NAIROBI, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said on Tuesday that it is seeking another 4.46 billion shillings (US $ 40 million) to step up its operations against the desert locust in East Africa and Yemen in 2021.
FAO said the funds will allow it to increase surveillance and control activities in the most affected countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
“Without additional funding, control efforts could slow or stop from late January 2021, which could allow numbers of the crop-eating pest to rise in some places,” FAO said in a statement.
He warned that farmers whose livelihoods have been affected require more support and that national capacities to monitor and respond to the desert locust still need to be strengthened.
According to FAO, a new generation of desert locust swarms are threatening agricultural and pastoral livelihoods and food security for millions of people in the Horn of Africa and Yemen despite intensive efforts to control the pest during 2020.
He warned that new locust swarms are already forming that threaten to re-invade northern Kenya and that breeding is also underway on both sides of the Red Sea, posing a new threat to Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen. .
According to FAO, more than 35 million people are already acutely food insecure in these five countries and FAO estimates this number could increase by another 3.5 million, if nothing is done to control the latest outbreak.
“Control operations have prevented the loss of approximately 2.7 million tonnes of grain, worth nearly $ 800 million, in countries already severely affected by acute food insecurity and poverty. That is enough to feed 18 millions of people a year, “he said.
More than 1.3 million hectares of locust pests have been treated in 10 countries since January with international support and a large-scale response campaign coordinated by FAO.
The UN food agency said favorable weather conditions and widespread seasonal rains have caused widespread breeding in eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.
“This was exacerbated by Cyclone Gati, which caused flooding in northern Somalia last month, allowing locust infestations to increase further in the coming months,” FAO said. Final product
