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UN concerned about desert locust outbreak in Horn of Africa

Tuesday, February 4th, 2020 18:16 | By
Farmers attempt to scare away locusts from their farms in Mwingi North, Kenya, Jan. 29, 2020. (Xinhua)

The United Nations is concerned about the current desert locust outbreak in the Horn of Africa, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said Friday at the daily news briefing.
 

"In the Horn of Africa, the UN is increasingly concerned about the current desert locust outbreak, which is the worst to strike Ethiopia and Somalia for 25 years and the worst infestation that Kenya has experienced in 70 years," said the spokesman.
   

"A small swarm of locusts can actually consume the equivalent of food for 35,000 people in just one day," he said.
   

"Djibouti and Eritrea are also being affected," the spokesman added.
  Dujarric said that the UN chief tweeted that "the outbreak is making the dire food security situation in the region even worse."
   

"The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) director-general today appealed for urgent funding to tackle the outbreak, noting that it now threatens to become a humanitarian crisis," the spokesman said.
   

"FAO has already mobilized 15.4 million U.S. dollars of the 76 million dollars requested for the five countries, but expects the needs will rise amid concern that the outbreak will spread to other countries, in particular South Sudan and Uganda," Dujarric added.
   

"The agency is also working to monitor the situation in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen for any developments," he said. (Xinhua)

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