FAO, OCHA, WFP conduct a joint briefing in Geneva to update Member States and other stakeholders on the humanitarian situation in Southern Africa and the desert locust situation in the Horn of Africa

Following on the briefing held in Nairobi and at FAO headquarters in Rome on the desert locust crises in Eastern Africa, a joint briefing was organized by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Food Programme (WFP) at the Palais des Nations, Geneva. The briefing also included the humanitarian situation in Southern Africa.

Member States and other stakeholders received information on the magnitude of the upsurge and the impact on food security, the immediate and medium-term needs and the ongoing efforts from experts of the three organizations.

Ms. Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Director of FAO’s Liaison Office in Geneva, emphasized that the Horn of Africa is facing the worst Desert Locust crisis in over 25 years, and the most serious in 70 years for Kenya. The current situation – regarded as an upsurge with the potential to become a regional plague – “represents an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods in the region”, she said.

Mr Keith Cressman, Senior Locust Forecasting Officer at FAO provided a background of the locust crisis, the existing and projected scenarios. Climate conditions was a key factor and in particular cyclone Pawan in December which created the perfect breeding conditions. Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are already seriously affected. Some swarms may reach Uganda and South Sudan in the coming days. “In the coming months, the swarms are likely to increase and go towards Sudan, risking also return to Ethiopia and Somalia and even going towards India and Pakistan. To give an idea of the magnitude of the emergency, “a swarm the size of Geneva can eat the same food in 1 day as everyone in Geneva”, he said.

Speaking on the response strategy, Mr. Dominique Burgeon, Director Emergency and Resilience Division, FAO, said the locust situation is an unprecedented threat in the Greater Horn of Africa and beyond. FAO has increased the level of risk to level 3 FAO has scaled up its response capacity to complement governments efforts to contain the locusts and invest in anticipatory actions to protect livelihoods of affected communities.

FAO has made an initial appeal for US$ 76 million to deal with the Locust crisis.  So far, generous and timely contributions have been received from CERF, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark but there is still a gap of USD$60 million.  Ms. Aida Mengistu, OCHA Regional Office for Southern and Eastern Africa, provided an update on the humanitarian situation in Southern Africa.  She indicated that climate conditions including severe droughts and cyclones have exacerbated the situation, with heavy rainfalls continued in December 2019 and January 2020 in several locations. A record 45 million people across the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) are food insecure following repeated drought, widespread flooding and economic disarray, most acutely in Zambia and Zimbabwe;

“We have to remain vigilant: the desert locust infestation seems to represent a real threat which could trigger human and animal starvation in the absence of immediate and significant scale up in control activities,” alerted Ms. Gordana Jerger, Director, WFP Geneva Office who spoke on the potential implications of locust on food security in Eastern Africa

The representatives from Kenya, Uganda and Sudan took the floor to inform of the Government efforts supported by FAO and the existing needs.

For more information: 

Alarm over Desert Locusts increases as new generation of the destructive pests starts breeding in Horn of Africa
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1258877/icode//

Webcast - Informal Briefing to the Members on the Desert Locust situation in the Horn of Africa
http://www.fao.org/webcast/home/en/item/5201/icode/

FAO website on the Desert Locust
http://www.fao.org/locusts/en/

Appeal for rapid response and anticipatory action in the Greater Horn of Africa
http://www.fao.org/3/ca7614en/CA7614EN.pdf