United Nations donates $10 million in the fight against Desert Locusts in East Africa

The United Nations has released $10 million for aerial spraying of pesticides to help fight the ongoing locust outbreak in East Africa.

Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General the funds will go to the United Nations, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to help spraying operations, therefore preventing spread to more countries.

FAO cites that this outbreak is the worst invasion in the region in 25 years threatening to worsen food economy and security in the areas where currently over nineteen million people have already encountered food insecurity, with numbers threatening to grow if the swarms spread.

Mr. Farhan said, “It is the worst of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia, Somalia and the worst Kenya has seen in seventy years. Crops are being wiped out in communities that were already facing food shortages. The outbreak is exacerbating the impacts of climate change already felt in this region.”

Climate change, including erratic weather, accounts for the spread of the locusts in the region and if left unchecked, the locust invasion could morph into a plague.