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FAO/GIEWS Special Alert No. 347: East Africa, 29 January 2020

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The worst desert locust outbreak in decades threatens food security across East Africa

Highlights

• The worst desert locust outbreak in 25 years has caused significant pasture losses across East Africa, mainly in agro-pastoral areas of eastern Ethiopia, central Somalia and northern Kenya.

• As sustained locust reproduction is expected until June 2020, the outbreak has a high probability to spread to southern Ethiopia, southern Somalia, northeastern Uganda and South Sudan.

• Immediate upscaling of aerial control measures is urgently needed to mitigate crop and pasture losses and to avoid a sharp deterioration of the food security situation.

The worst desert locust outbreak in 25 years is destroying crops and pasture across East Africa. The areas of major concern are Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya, but locusts are present also on the Red Sea coast in the Sudan and Eritrea. The current outbreak, which resulted from the combination of uncontrolled reproduction in the Arabian Peninsula and unusual weather and climate conditions in East Africa, has resulted in substantial pasture losses in agro-pastoral areas of eastern Ethiopia and central Somalia. The control operations carried out so far have been largely inadequate to contain the outbreak, which in late 2019 has spread to Kenya. Here, large swarms, up to 60 km long and 40 km wide, have invaded in less than a month all northern counties and some central areas, bringing damage to agro-pastoral livelihoods, depriving livestock of pasture. As the outbreak is expected to continue until June 2020 due to the continuation of favourable ecological conditions for locust reproduction, swarms are expected to invade southern Ethiopia and perhaps northeastern Uganda and southeastern South Sudan. Recurrent climatic shocks and conflict have resulted in high levels of food insecurity in 2019, with more than 22 million people estimated to be severely food insecure (IPC Phase 3: “Crisis” and Phase 4: “Emergency”) in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan and South Sudan. The damages caused by the desert locusts in late 2019 and the livelihood losses likely to occur in 2020 may lead to a sharp deterioration of the food security situation, if adequate measures are not taken. A substantial scaling up of ground and aerial spraying, supported by increased surveillance for early detection and monitoring is urgently required.