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Desert locust upsurge

Progress report on the response in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, September–December 2020

Year of publication 2021

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 40 p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) By the end 2020, a total of USD 191 650 000 has been mobilized by FAO to respond to the desert locust upsurge in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen following the release of its first desert locust upsurge response plan in January and the subsequent revisions launched in February, May and December 2020. This represents about 83 percent of the requested USD 230 450 000 until June 2021. Together with the efforts of the governments of the affected countries and the Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA), this funding enabled the control of around 1 564 000 hectares (ha) – out of 2 million ha included in the December 2020 revised response plan – of infested farmland, rangeland and breeding grounds. These measures have helped to protect the livelihoods of some 225 000 households. The funding has also facilitated coordination with stakeholders across the region.

Language English

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    Desert locust upsurge
    Progress report on the response in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, January-April 2021
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    The fight against desert locust in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen has been raging for sixteen months – since January 2020. Governments, FAO and partners are responding to the worst upsurge in seventy years. An extraordinarily effective system has been put in place, from forecasting to responding, and from short-term coordinating to preparing for the medium and longer term. Thanks to generous contributions from 29 partners, in addition to FAO’s own resources, close to USD 219 million have been mobilized towards FAO’s desert locust crisis appeal for the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen. This is 95 percent of the total funding requirement, as per the revised appeal launched on 16 December 2020, covering the period January 2020 to June 2021. With this funding, more than 2 million hectares of land have been treated since January 2020, saving the livelihoods and protecting the food security of 36.9 million people.
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    Booklet
    Desert locust upsurge
    Progress report on the response in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen, May–August 2020
    2020
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    With over seven decades of experience in detecting, reporting and managing desert locust infestations, and five decades in preventing and responding to humanitarian emergencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations works closely with affected countries, providing crucial technical support and guidance in response to the 2020 desert locust upsurge. Since January 2020, remarkable progress has been made to counter the upsurge that slowly developed over the last two years in the Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula and spread to Eastern Africa and Southwest Asia. Owing to strong capacities in Southwest Asia, the upsurge is almost under control, while scaled-up and sustained action in Eastern Africa has prevented a major humanitarian crisis and averted massive infestation in Western Africa. This second quarterly report reflects FAO’s continued efforts towards transparency in reporting against planned activities and achievements between May and August 2020, responding to common questions and concerns posed by our partners.
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    Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet
    Desert locust upsurge
    Progress report on the response in West Africa, May–December 2020
    2021
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    By the end of December 2020, about 18 percent of the USD 50 million appeal has been mobilized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in preparedness and anticipatory actions to control desert locust swarms and safeguard livelihoods in West Africa and the Sahel following the release of its crisis appeal in May 2020. FAO’s Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Western Region (CLCPRO) secretariat and the countries at risk including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger and Senegal activated their respective contingency plans to cope with the threat of a desert locust invasion from East Africa. Monitoring teams were deployed, trainings were conducted and procurement was launched. Although the imminent threat of an invasion from East Africa has significantly reduced since June 2020, FAO must remain vigilant and the capacity to conduct surveillance and coordination activities must be maintained. Early action to enhance preparedness in West Africa is especially important considering that 17.2 million people were projected to face acute food insecurity (Cadre Harmonisé Phase 3 and above) during the lean season (June–August 2020) in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger, Nigeria and Senegal according to the Cadre Harmonisé analysis released in March 2020. If an upsurge of desert locust had occurred in West Africa, this could have led to a significant decline in food security given compounding vulnerabilities (e.g. climate, conflict and COVID‑19 impacts). FAO is continuing to monitor the potential desert locust threat in the Sahel. FAO’s CLCPRO, together with FAO’s Regional Resilience, Emergency and Rehabilitation Office for West Africa/Sahel (REOWA) based in Dakar, is working closely with at-risk countries in anticipatory actions such as training, pre-positioning of resources and initiating impact assessment scenarios as well as ground and aerial surveillance operations.
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