Funding is urgently needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis as famine stalks the northeast region
Samburu men try to fend off a swarm of desert locusts flying over grazing land near Lemasulani village in Kenya. Picture: REUTERS/NJERI MWANGI
The entire region, descending as far south as Tanzania and as far west as the fringes of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is facing the real possibility of a famine that will rival any that have gone before. The reason: huge swarms of desert locusts that are eating everything in their path. In a strange way the destructive swarms of locusts in Africa are connected to the drought and bush fires in Australia. While hardly next-door neighbours, the climate of both regions is strongly influenced by what is known as the Indian Ocean dipole.
Desert locusts reproduce every three months and each successive swarm is many times larger than the one that went before. So as the main crops of the region are about to sprout, locusts are laying eggs, hatching and creating ever larger swarms. The World Food Programme has, reportedly, estimated the cost of responding to the effect of locusts on food security alone to be at least 15 times higher than the cost of preventing the spread now.The organisations involved — the UN, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and WFP — have welcomed some of the funding that has come in. About $33m has been received or promised but it is nowhere near enough.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why ducks are better than pesticide when tackling locust swarmsThe ducks are ‘biological weapons’, one of which can eat more than 200 locusts a day
Read more »
DR Congo latest victim of locust swarms: expertsThe Democratic Republic of Congo has become the latest country on the continent hit by an invasion of crop-destroying locusts, experts said.
Read more »
DR Congo latest victim of locust swarms: expertsThe Democratic Republic of Congo has become the latest country on the continent hit by an invasion of crop-destroying locusts, experts said.
Read more »
Why ducks are better than pesticide when tackling locust swarmsThe ducks are ‘biological weapons’, one of which can eat more than 200 locusts a day
Read more »
South Africans in China: Repatriation details sketchyIt's unclear when 132 South Africans will be repatriated from China and where they'll be quarantined.
Read more »
WHO guidelines must be followed in quarantining those returning from Wuhan: SA Medical Association - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.The South African Medical Association (SAMA) is urging authorities to follow the correct procedure in the quarantining of South Africans who will be returning from China amid the global coronavirus outbreak.
Read more »