Coupled with the pandemic, floods, and drought, the desert locust infestation has sharply contributed to increased food insecurity in Ethiopia, the impact of which will likely be felt into 2021, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs ( OCHA) has said
In a report released Saturday, OCHA said the pastoral and agro-pastoral community across the country are still facing the impacts of desert locust and have very little means and time to adapt to climate shocks due to reduced resilience of the affected community.
According to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) 6 million of the 8.5 million people projected to be in severe acute food insecurity through June 2021 are living in areas affected by the desert locust upsurge.
The situation will deteriorate following new swarms of desert locusts expected to descend on large parts of Ethiopia and Kenya in the coming weeks, OCHA noted.
In Tigray region and all conflict-ridden areas, farmers and herders have been displaced, productive assets saved from the climate shocks lost, market functionalities, agricultural activities, and labour opportunities disrupted.
Moreover, COVID-19 and its restrictive control measures continue to affect peoples’ livelihoods, including those of IDPs, returnees, and returning migrants, the report said.
