Coronavirus - Africa: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) continues to fight Desert Locust upsurge in East Africa and Yemen despite COVID-19 constraints
More than 240,000 hectares treated and 740 personnel trained in affected countries since January 2020
ROME, Italy, April 9, 2020/ -- The Food
and Agriculture Organization of the UN is continuing its efforts to
contain the Desert Locust upsurge in East Africa despite restrictions on the movement of personnel and equipment resulting from the COVID-19
pandemic.
The Desert Locust upsurge continues to remain alarming, particularly in
Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, where it poses an unprecedented threat to
food security and livelihoods. In the six East African countries worst
affected or at risk of locusts - Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan,
Uganda and Tanzania - around 20 million people are already experiencing
acute food insecurity, and a further 15 million in Yemen, which is also
being affected by the pest.
Widespread rainfall in March is expected to produce a dramatic increase
in locust numbers in East Africa over the coming months, with new swarms expected to move from Kenya into South Sudan and Uganda. The situation is also worrying in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Yemen where a new
generation of locusts is emerging.
Restrictions on the movement of personnel and equipment imposed by
COVID-19 have created challenges but FAO is continuing to work with
national governments, farmers and agricultural producers to contain the
outbreak.
"There is no significant slowdown because all the affected countries
working with FAO consider Desert Locusts a national priority," said
Cyril Ferrand, FAO's Resilience Team Leader for East Africa.
"While lockdown is becoming a reality, people engaged in the fight
against the upsurge are still allowed to conduct surveillance, and air
and ground control operations."
FAO is augmenting national efforts by providing support for surveillance as well as aerial and ground spraying being conducted in 10 affected
countries.
So far more than 240,000 hectares have been treated with chemical
pesticides or biopesticides across the region and 740 people have been
trained up to conduct ground locust control operations. But COVID-19
has had an impact on the supply of motorized sprayers and pesticides.
"The biggest challenge we are facing at the moment is the supply of
pesticides and we have delays because global air freight has been
reduced significantly," Ferrand said.
"Our absolute priority is to prevent a breakdown in pesticide stocks in
each country. That would be dramatic for rural populations whose
livelihoods and food security depend on the success of our control
campaign."
As COVID-19 restricts the movement of personnel in the field, FAO is
intensifying remote data collection and the network of partners, civil
society, extension workers and grassroot organizations is critical for
providing information from remote locations especially in Ethiopia,
Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan.
FAO is encouraging all countries to use eLocust3, a rugged handheld
tablet and app, which records and transmits data in real time via
satellite to national locust centres and to the Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS) based at FAO headquarters in Rome.
Since 2015, more than 450 of these handheld devices have been
distributed to teams in northern Africa, the Near East and southwest
Asia, allowing the transfer of real-time data from the middle of the
desert directly to the national locust office and to FAO's headquarters. More recently, FAO has developed a version of eLocust3 that can be used on mobile phones and a GPS device in order to broaden usage and
coverage.
"We need to rely on a network of partners in the field in order to
collect vital information because we cannot go everywhere due to
COVID-19," Ferrand said.
The Desert Locust is considered the most destructive migratory pest in
the world and a single swarm covering one square kilometer contains up
to 80 million locusts. FAO estimates the number of locusts could
increase another 20 times during the upcoming rainy season unless
control activities are stepped up.
The current situation represents an unprecedented threat to food
security and livelihoods that could lead to further suffering,
displacement and potential tensions.
FAO recently scaled up its Desert Locust appeal to $153.2 million and so far $111.1 million has been pledged or received.
Funding has been received from Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France,
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Switzerland as well as the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, the
African Development Bank, the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund, the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (ECHO), the European
Union, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Mastercard
Foundation, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the
UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and USAID.
Desert Locust monitoring, forecasting and control are at the heart of FAO's mandate. Its Desert Locust Information Service has been in operation for nearly 50 years. FAO's well-established field
presence, ability to link up authorities from different countries, and
expertise in Desert Locust management, make it a key player in
responding to upsurges like that currently affecting East Africa.
A video news release on FAO's effort to contain the Desert Locust
upsurge in Kenya despite restrictions imposed by the COVID-19
pandemic is available on FAO's Media Vault at: http://tv.fao.org/
Image: Swarm of Desert Locusts in Isiolo County in Kenya
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