Horn of Africa becomes worst desert locust affected area: FAO

Source: Xinhua| 2020-02-04 23:53:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Tuesday disclosed that the Horn of Africa (HoR) region is the worst desert locust affected area from the three hot-spots of threatening locust activity globally.

Noting that the three desert locust hot-spot areas include the Horn of Africa, Uganda and South Sudan, as well as some Asian countries, the FAO said that the Horn of Africa is "the worst affected area."

"The current situation remains extremely alarming in three main areas. In the Horn of Africa, the worst affected area, there is an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods as swarms increased in Ethiopia and Somalia and continued to move south to Kenya," the FAO said in its desert locust outbreak update issued Tuesday.

According to the FAO, the increasing desert locust swarms in Ethiopia and Somalia have continued to migrate into Kenya, where they spread to 14 northern, central and southwest counties, reaching within 200 km of northeast Uganda and southeast South Sudan.

"Some swarms have already laid eggs and hatching is almost certainly underway," the FAO said, adding that swarms also entered the Rift Valley in Ethiopia.

According to the FAO, aerial and ground operations were in progress but remained insufficient, in which breading during February "will cause a further increase with numerous hopper bands in all three countries."

It also stressed that swarms may still reach Uganda and South Sudan, as locust infestations continued to grow along both sides of the Red Sea where numerous hopper groups, bands and adult groups formed.

Last week, the FAO had warned that the worst desert locust outbreak in decades has threatened the food security of Ethiopia and its neighboring East African countries.

"The worst desert locust outbreak in 25 years has caused significant pasture losses across East Africa, mainly in agro-pastoral areas of eastern Ethiopia, central Somalia and northern Kenya," the FAO said in its desert locust situation update issued on Thursday.

The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), which is considered as the most dangerous of the nearly one dozen species of locusts, is a major food security peril in desert areas across 20 countries, stretching from west Africa all the way to India, covering nearly 16 million square kilometers, according to the UN.

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