NGO donates $10 million for Locust affected African Farmers

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has welcomed the donation by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and asked others to donate for the cause as locust attacks have posed a ‘humanitarian crisis’.

Amid rising concerns of large-scale destruction of crops by the locust swarms in the East African countries, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed a donation of US$ 10 million to the FAO to fight the menace. The locust swarms have caused an agriculture epidemic like conditions in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti & Eritrea.

"The upsurge is threatening people's livelihoods and food security in a region that is already seriously food insecure," said FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu. "There is no time to waste," he added welcoming the donation. The FAO has planned to raise $138 million as urgent funding to assist the countries that have been adversely affected. According to FAO, so far $33 million has been pledged or received. Qu also informed that the situation was extremely alarming and the next few weeks would be critical for mounting an effective containment operation.

The latest locust outbreak is reportedly worst in Ethiopia and Somalia for 25 years while Kenya is experiencing the worst infestation in 70 years. Besides, Somalia has declared it a national emergency. As the resources of the countries are limited, the FAO is providing training, pesticides and spraying facilities.

According to FAO's Desert Locust Watch, Djibouti and Eritrea are also affected, and swarms are fast spreading in southeast South Sudan and the northern edges of Uganda and Tanzania. The UN agency is also preparing to take action to protect rural livelihoods by providing affected growers with farming packages, veterinary care for livestock, and cash to families who have lost their crops so that they can purchase food.

Locust is considered as the most destructive migratory plant pest in the world. According to agriculture scientists, every day a locust swarm eats up plant material equivalent to the food of 35,000 people. In favorable conditions, they reproduce very fast and their population increases to 500 times in six months. Pasture and croplands of East Africa have already been damaged and there are potentially severe consequences for the region where millions rely on agriculture and livestock rearing for their survival.