Locusts, the coronavirus and deadly floods are a "triple threat" to millions of people across East Africa, officials warned, as the World Bank announced a $500 million aid program for countries hit by a historic desert locust outbreak.
Climate change is partly to blame for an outbreak of locusts in East Africa, numbering in the billions, the likes of which has not been recorded in some countries for 70 years.
An additional threat to the region is the coronavirus, which has already infected about 20 percent of the world's population that is already at risk of starvation, including millions in South Sudan and Somalia.
Yemen, on the nearby Arabian Peninsula, is also threatened, and United Nations officials warn that if locusts are not suppressed, war-torn Yemen will become a "reservoir for the spread of infection" in the region.
Quarantine due to the pandemic has slowed the authorities' efforts to deal with the insects, especially since there is no imported pesticide necessary for spraying from the avon, which is the only effective method of control.
"For now there is no general infestation, but if there are heavy rains during the summer and if locust control fails, a general infestation could appear by the end of the year," said an official of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
FAO is appealing for aid and plans to increase the amount to $310 million in aid for millions of people across Ethiopia, Kenya and other countries, including farmers and herders.
Already, about 400.000 hectares of land have been protected from locusts, or enough crops to feed about five million people, said Dominique Bourgeau, FAO's emergency director, "but that's only one part of the equation."
Locust numbers continue to rise despite efforts to control them, and the combination with the pandemic and flooding could have a "catastrophic effect," said FAO Director-General Ku Dongju.
FAO says in its latest assessment that the situation in parts of East Africa is "extremely alarming", as new swarms of locusts will appear from mid-June, which coincides with the start of the harvest season.
The new World Bank program of 500 million dollars is intended for the affected countries of Africa and the Middle East, and Uganda, Kenya, Djibouti and Ethiopia will use the initial aid of 160 million dollars, and the World Bank is preparing a plan to help Yemen and Somalia.
In the recent floods in otherwise chronically dry East Africa, according to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, almost 300 people died and 500.000 were displaced, and there is no one to control the locusts, and the risk of the virus spreading elsewhere is growing.
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