UN chief calls on developed countries to help East Africa fight locust plague

UN Secretary-General António Guterres requested the international community respond with speed and generosity on Saturday at the ordinary session of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, linking climate change to the locust crisis in East Africa.

"Desert locusts are extremely dangerous. Triggered by the climate crisis, the outbreak is making the dire food security situation in East Africa even worse," Guterres said. "Africa is the least responsible for climate change disruption yet is among the first and worst to suffer. Its nations need assistance to build resilience to adapt to the inevitable impacts to come."

This comes after Food and Agriculture Organization spokesman Alberto Trillo Barca warned on Saturday that nymph or baby desert locusts maturing in Somalia will develop wings in the next three or four weeks and threaten millions of people already short of food.

According to reports by China's CGTN, Guterres told heads of state in attendance at the African Union summit that the UN was expanding its work to respond to the challenge with a development of analytical and programmatic guidance to address security risks in the horn of Africa, central Africa and the Sahel.

In early February, Somalia became the first country in the horn of Africa to declare an emergency over locusts infestation. On Feb 9, John Martin Owor, Uganda's commissioner in the department of relief and disaster preparedness also warned that the locusts were spotted approaching the Uganda-Kenya border. So far, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have already suffered devastation from the infestation.

The latest desert locust situation update released by the FAO on Feb 3 warned that Uganda and South Sudan are at risk of being infested by the devastating swarms.

"Breeding during February will cause a further increase with numerous hopper bands in all three countries. Some swarms may still reach Uganda and South Sudan in the coming days," the update states.

Desert locusts are considered the most destructive migratory pests in the world. Reports of crop damage are coming in from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, but firm numbers on damages and losses have not yet been reliably ascertained. In one day, a 1 square kilometer swarm can consume the equivalent of food for 35,000 people and can travel 150 kilometers.