Ministry Undertaking Locust Prevention Activity in Eastern Part of Ethiopia

Addis Ababa January 2/2021 (Ena) Ministry of Agriculture disclosed that efforts have been undertaken to control the spread of locust swarms across the neighboring regions in the eastern part of Ethiopia.

A delegation led by State Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Mandefro Nigusei held consultation on Friday with officials of  Harari and Somali Regional States as well as the city administration of Dire Dawa on how to control locust infestation in the region.  

During the consultation that took place in Dire Dawa, the state minister said that collaborative efforts are being underway to avert the threat of newly reported desert locust swarm on crops developed through irrigation schemes and animal feeds in the eastern part of the country.   

The prevention activities have been conducted by employing 13 aircrafts to spray chemicals, he added.  

According to the state minister, in addition to the aircrafts and helicopters, more than 100 vehicles have also been engaged to effectively control the locust infestation.

“So far, we have sprayed chemicals on some 131 thousand hectares of land in the eastern part of the country in collaboration with neighboring regional states” the state minister said.    

Though the locust has caused any damage to the crops except on the grazing land, the state minister urged the pertinent actors in the region to continue the collaborative prevention efforts being undertaken to control the locust.  

He stated that supports will be provided for farmers whose crop had been damaged by the locust invasion occurred earlier.

The state minister also affirmed that the ministry has made the adequate preparation in terms of institutional system, organizational structure and resources including chemical spraying aircrafts in a bid to effectively control the locust swarm in the country.

He pointed out that the ten regional states have been clustered in to three commands with an  integrated structures down to Kebele level to make locust prevention effort successful.  

It was learned that a new locust swarm has been reported in Eastern parts of the country and surrounding regions including Oromia and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' regions.