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Somalia and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said they have stepped up the fight against desert locusts.
FAO warned Friday that large populations of desert locusts in Somalia have moved to the southern parts of the country as hatchings and hopper bands continue.
Etienne Peterschmitt, FAO representative in Somalia, said detection and control operations, by land and by air, have been increased.
“These assets include aircraft, vehicles, equipment, biopesticides, insect growth regulators and personnel that have been strategically placed in various parts of the country,” Peterschmitt said in a joint statement released in Mogadishu.
The areas most affected, according to the UN food agency, include Sool, Nugal, the Mudug regions in Puntland and most of Galmudug.
Anti-locust operations focus on central and southern risk areas.
According to FAO, a recent shift in winds has pushed insects into southern Somalia, threatening a potential re-invasion in northern Kenya in the coming weeks.
More recent reports include sightings of mature locusts in the Southwestern state and Jubaland, FAO said.
Somali Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Said Hussein Iid, said the current wave of desert locusts in the country is the worst it has ever experienced in decades.
“However, since this protracted crisis began in December 2019, Somalia’s response capacity has been strengthened thanks to the concerted efforts of the government and FAO,” he said.
Alphonse Owuor, FAO crop protection official in Somalia, said a seasonal shift in winds and rains would see renewed locust activity.
“This is an extremely difficult parasite to manage that reproduces at the speed of light,” Owuor said. “The winter breeding season is underway and we expect to see more populations of desert locusts in the coming months, especially as new generations are already hatching.”
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