{"id":4240,"date":"2020-02-15T22:54:35","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T22:54:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=4240"},"modified":"2020-02-16T08:12:51","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T08:12:51","slug":"un-warns-of-looming-food-shortage-on-the-horn-of-africa-due-to-locust-invasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2020\/02\/15\/un-warns-of-looming-food-shortage-on-the-horn-of-africa-due-to-locust-invasion\/","title":{"rendered":"UN warns of looming food shortage on the horn of Africa due to locust invasion"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAPITALS —<\/strong> The East African region could be on the verge of a food crisis if huge swarms of locusts devouring crops and pasture are not brought under control.<\/p>\n

A massive food assistance may be required, Dominique Burgeon, director of emergencies for the UN\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said.<\/p>\n

Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are affected.<\/p>\n

Efforts to control the infestation have so far not been effective.<\/p>\n

Aerial spraying of pesticides is the most effective way of fighting the swarms but countries in the region do not have the right resources.<\/p>\n

There are fears that the locusts \u2013 already in the hundreds of billions \u2013 will multiply further.<\/p>\n

The FAO says the insects are breeding so fast that numbers could grow 500 times by June.<\/p>\n

The UN body has now called on the international community to provide nearly $76m (\u00a358m) to fund the spraying of the affected areas with insecticide.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it doesn\u2019t, the situation will deteriorate and then you will need to provide massive food assistance for a humanitarian situation that may even get out of control,\u201d Mr. Burgeon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is always a risk when you have people in acute food insecurity that famine is not very far,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

An FAO spokesperson later clarified that they were not warning about a famine but rather \u201cfood insecurity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Source: Radio Dalsan<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAPITALS — The East African region could be on the verge of a food crisis if huge swarms of locusts devouring crops and pasture are not brought under control. A massive food assistance may be required, Dominique Burgeon, director of emergencies for the UN\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said. Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-environment-and-disasters","category-food-security-cluster","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t