Locust swarms pose new threat to Middle East and Africa’s food security

Locust swarms pose new threat to Middle East and Africa’s food security

Fri, 2021-02-05 23:36

DUBAI: Despite its best efforts throughout 2020 to bring the scourge of desert locusts under control, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that swarms of the crop-eating insects now pose an even greater threat to agricultural and pastoral livelihoods and the food security of millions from the Horn of Africa to Yemen.

Last month, FAO said favorable weather conditions and widespread seasonal rains had led to an explosion in locust breeding in eastern Ethiopia and Somalia “” made worse by Cyclone Gati. Infestations are forecast to increase in the coming months alongside a new cycle of breeding on the Red Sea coast.

"As the region is already extremely vulnerable, given three years of drought followed by last year's heavy rains and floods, compounded by COVID-19 and insecurity, desert locust swarms represent an additional shock that can have severe consequences for food security and livelihoods,“ Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer at FAO's Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS), told Arab News.

"A one square kilometer-swarm can consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people.“

A one square kilometer-swarm can consume the same amount of food in one day as 35,000 people, Keith Cressman told Arab News. (AFP/File Photo)

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