The money needed to combat a desert locust outbreak in eastern Africa has doubled to $138 million, the Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations said.
The cash is urgently needed “to help governments control these devastating pests, especially in the next four months.” Only $33 million has been received or committed so far, the FAO said in a statement.
“Each day, more countries are affected,” the FAO said. This week, for the first time since 1944, a swarm entered the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan already have the pest threatening “the most important crop of the year,” FAO said.
The cost of response to the impact of locusts on food security alone is estimated to be at least 15 times higher than the cost of preventing their spread, according to the World Food Program.
“The math is clear, as is our moral obligation. Pay a little now, or pay a lot more later,” the FAO said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Samuel Gebre in Addis Ababa at sgebre@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura
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