UK Funds 18 Mln Pound to Tackle Locust Swarms in Africa, Asia

Addis Ababa, July, 24/2020(ENA) United Kingdom on Thursday announced a new aid package of 18 million pound that will help to tackle unprecedented locust outbreak across Africa and Asia.

UK’s International Development Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said the UK offered 18 million pound of new support in response to the locust crisis as millions of insects are destroying thousands of hectares of crops.

The funding will increase pesticide spraying, monitoring and surveillance, she pointed out.

Of the new funding, 17 million pound will go to the FAO’s emergency appeal to help control the increase of locusts across East Africa, Yemen and South West Asia, as well as reduce the risk of swarms spreading into the Sahel.

The UK will also provide up to 1million pound to improve early warning and forecasting systems for desert locusts so that countries can prepare for their arrival.

The support, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and weather data from the UK Met Office, will help the FAO to target locust breeding sites and control outbreaks before they’re able to affect crucial crops and pastures.

With locust swarms growing 20 times larger since March 2020,International Development Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan calls on countries to work together to tackle the crisis.

The impact of the plague of insects across Africa and Asia has been made worse by coronavirus, with vulnerable communities facing dwindling food supplies alongside the pandemic, she said.  

 The crisis will spread and cause even more devastation unless other countries also step up and act now, Anne-Marie Trevelyan added.

The new funding follows 8 million pound provided by the UK earlier this year to the FAO appeal, supporting Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Tanzania and Pakistan to destroy pests.