Anticipatory action to mitigate impacts of the desert locust invasion on food security and livelihoods in the front-line countries of West Africa and the Sahel

FAO

Anticipatory action to mitigate impacts of the desert locust invasion on food security and livelihoods in the front-line countries of West Africa and the Sahel

Project profile: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger and Senegal

Year of publication 2021

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 9p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) The impact of a desert locust invasion may cause nearly 13.4 million people to suffer from acute levels of food insecurity in the targeted countries. This situation would add further strain to the livelihoods of vulnerable people already facing sanitary and socio-economic consequences of coronavirus disease 2019, the impact of climate change and conflict. In accordance with Scenario 1 of FAO’s regional appeal for desert locust launched on 21 May 2020, the project will target six countries, namely: (i) the frontline countries: Chad, Mali, Mauritania and the Niger; and (ii) Burkina Faso and Senegal.

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
Strengthening early actions and rapid response to mitigate impacts of the desert locust invasion on food security and livelihoods in the frontline countries of West Africa and the Sahel 2020

Also available in:

French

According to results of the latest Cadre Harmonisé analysis of food security in the Sahel, 17 million people may be facing severe acute food and nutrition insecurity (Phase 3 and above) by June–August 2020 (lean season). An additional 9 million people could suffer from a Desert Locust attack in the nine countries concerned by the potential current crisis. It is thus crucial to provide support to surveillance and control efforts of frontline countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and the Niger) in order to protect the livelihoods of already vulnerable farmers and pastoralists.
Meeting

Report of the first session of the Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in North-West Africa, Algiers, Algeria, 27-30 March 1972
AGP-1972/M/1
1972

Also available in:

No results found.
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet

West Africa | Desert locust crisis appeal, May–December 2020
Anticipatory action and rapid response
2020

Also available in:

No results found.

Recent forecasts by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have indicated a risk of locust invasion in West Africa from June 2020. From East Africa, some swarms could reach the eastern part of the Sahel and continue westwards from Chad to Mauritania. Surveillance and control teams will be mobilized across the region with a focus on Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and the Niger, and extended to Senegal. Countries such as Cameroon, the Gambia and Nigeria are also on watch in the event that desert locust spreads to these highly acute food-insecure countries. Since the region could be threatened in the coming months, FAO is strongly encouraging no regret investments in preparedness and anticipatory action to control swarms and safeguard livelihoods, given already high levels of acute food insecurity. Therefore, cost estimates for preparedness, anticipatory action and rapid response have been assessed. FAO’s Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region and FAO’s subregional resilience team for West Africa and the Sahel are already working together with potentially affected countries for the implementation of anticipatory actions, such as training, pre-positioning of resources, initiating surveillance activities and control operations. The countries of the subregion most exposed to the threat of a locust invasion are Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger and Senegal. All of these countries are already facing the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which presents significant further risks to food security. Applying lessons from the 2003–2005 desert locust upsurge in West Africa and from the implementation of resilience programmes in the region, including its Early Warning Early Action approach, FAO is focusing on anticipatory action to avert a full blown food crisis, mainly by: scaling up support to governments to monitor and control the pest; and safeguarding livelihood interventions.