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More Funding Needed To Combat Locust SWARMS ‘Unprecedented In Modern Times’
FOOD SECURITY
UNITED NATIONS
Along with climate shocks, conflict and acute food insecurity, the East Africa region now faces a hunger threat from desert locusts, top UN relief officials warned on Tuesday, saying action now, will avert a major food crisis later.
The United Nations.
T
he locust upsurge is “a graphic and shocking reminder” of the region’s vulnerability, said a joint statement from Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Mark Lowcock, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator; and David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP). “This is a scourge of biblical proportions”, the statement read. “Yet as ancient as this scourge is, its scale today is unprecedented in modern times”. GROWING PLAGUE
Startupmagazine.co.ke
March 2020
Although the UN agriculture agency sounded the alarm in January, calling for financial assistance to control the outbreak, resources have been too slow in coming. Since FAO launched its first appeal to help what was at the time three affected countries, the locust swarms have moved rapidly across vast distances and as of 12 February, have been sighted in Djibouti, Eritrea, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Each day, more countries are affected. Last week, a swarm crossed into South
