The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that east African countries facing desert locust swarms may have their food security further threatened, as international shipments of pesticides have been delayed due to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus.
Beginning late last year, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia were among the many countries hit by massive swarms of desert locusts that appeared following a particularly wet cyclone season.
“If we fail in the current [regional] control operations, because of lack of pesticides, then we could see 4 million more people struggle to feed their families,” Cyril Ferrand, the FAO’s head of resilience for Eastern Africa, told Reuters on Thursday. He noted that pesticide stocks in Kenya would run out within the next few days.
To make matters worse, the UN revealed last month that the desert locust, which can eat the equivalent of its body mass in fresh food daily, stands to endanger the food security of some 25 million people due to favorable breeding conditions.
“If we don’t have pesticides, our planes cannot fly and people cannot spray, and if we are not able to control these swarms, we will have big damage to crops.”
While the FAO has been able to raise $111 million of its $138 million goal, the rate of contributions to combat locust swarms has significantly declined in recent weeks, with only an additional $6 million pledged since mid-March.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
