Browsing: Locust in Kenya

Locusts could be East Africa’s new threat, after the coronavirus pandemic, which is also taking a toll in East Africa. The Locust infestation is causing chaos to the human food supply and has been wreaking havoc for the past decades, in the African continent.

The situation in some parts of East Africa is alarming, according to 27 May Locust Watch information from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the desert locust upsurge remains critical in East Africa.

“The current situation remains extremely alarming in East Africa where Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia continue to face an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods. New swarms from current breeding will form from mid-June onwards, coinciding with the start of the harvest,” FAO argued.

According to a March 10, 2020, BBC News report, the locusts—which eat their body weight in food every day are breeding so fast numbers could grow four hundredfold by …

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) received €11 million contribution from the European Union as the UN agency steps up efforts to fight the desert locust outbreak.

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu received the contribution to help fight the locust upsurge which has now spread from East Africa to the Persian Gulf.

The European Commission announced that €10 million would come from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO). While another €1 million will come from the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).

“I want to thank the European Union for its generosity and support as the Desert Locust threatens to provoke a humanitarian crisis in East Africa,” Qu said.

Qu also added that the situation is extremely alarming in a region where 20 million people are already considered food insecure.

The locust outbreak is the worst in the last 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia and …