The government of the United Kingdom has promised help to both Somalia and Somaliland to tackle the locust problem.
UK has promised to release fresh funding to tackle the unprecedented locust invasion that has affected Africa and Asia a lot from late last year.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Secretary of UK’s International Development, announced that her government has released a further £18 million to tackle this crisis.
She made the announcement today while visiting Micron Group, a British firm supplying pesticide sprayers to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Reports indicate that locust swarms are now 20 times bigger since the first wave of the invasion ended in March 2020.
Somalia has witnessed an invasion of new swarms after breeding, which coincides with the beginning of the Gu rains.
Consequently, FAO predicts a decrease of between 15% and 25% in this year’s crop harvest.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan says the funding would mitigate the effects of the expected food insecurity among vulnerable communities in Somalia and Somaliland.
Additionally, a substantial percentage of the fund would be directed towards controlling the locusts across the Horn of Africa region and parts of Southwest Asia.