East Africa braces for another locust invasion

By Marion DOUETEast Africa is bracing for a third outbreak of desert locusts, with billions of the destructive insects about to hatch and threaten food supplies in a region already reeling from damaging rains and the coronavirus pandemic."Tens of thousands of hectares of cropland and pasture have already been damaged across East Africa," the International rescue committee said.In Ethiopia, locusts destroyed 1.3 million hectares of grazing land and nearly 200 000 hectares of crops, resulting in the loss of 350 000 tonnes of cereals, the East Africa regional organisation, said.But these initial estimates corresponding to the first and second locust waves do not fully capture the extent of damage as field surveys have been hindered by the coronavirus pandemic."Until we get extended figures, I would just say Ethiopia was definitely the most affected in terms of croplands, then Somalia," says Kenneth Mwangi from the climate monitoring programme.Somalia, which like Kenya experienced heavy rains and flooding in recent months that left scores dead, had already declared a "national emergency" against the locust scourge in February.So far East African neighbours Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have been spared the insects, which travel in huge swarms billions of insects strong, and can migrate 150 kilometres in a single day.The World Bank in May approved a US$500 million programme to help countries vulnerable to hunger in East Africa fight the pests eating their way across the region.Food security"We have not seen signs of a large-scale impact on food security," says Lark Walters of the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a US-funded food security monitoring organisation.However, that doesn't mean the impact hasn't been keenly felt on among vulnerable communities where access to food is fragile, and any shocks can cause immense hardship, he said."Somali pastoralist communities have had three years of drought, then the locusts, now Covid-19, which will prevent them from exporting their livestock," said Ferrand of the FAO."For them it's disaster after disaster, so their resilience is already very low. The slightest shock can push them into extreme poverty."-Nampa/AFP

East Africa braces for another locust invasion

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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East Africa braces for another locust invasion

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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