The United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), provided an additional $10 million in humanitarian assistance to support regional operations to control locusts in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. This announcement brings the U.S. government’s regional humanitarian response to the locust outbreak to $19 million. By helping to reduce the size of the swarms, this aid is expected to have a positive impact on affected communities in Ethiopia and throughout the Horn of Africa.
The current outbreak of desert locusts is the worst to hit East Africa in decades. Billions of pests are infesting the region, eating their way through vegetation and livestock pastures. The new funding will support locust detection, surveillance, and control operations across the region, which include ground-based and aerial efforts. These programs are critical to mitigating a potentially larger impact on people’s ability to earn a living and provide food for their families in the future.