Gates Foundation donates $10m to fight East Africa desert locust outbreak

JOHANNESBURG  – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has applauded a $10 million donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fight the upsurge of desert locusts in East Africa and called for more funding to help prevent a humanitarian crisis.

The foundation said its donation would help FAO supports governments in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia to combat locust infestation which poses a significant threat to food production and livelihoods in the region.

The outbreak is the worst to strike Ethiopia and Somalia for 25 years and the worst Kenya has experienced in 70 years.

Djibouti and Eritrea are also affected and swarms have spread to the south east of South Sudan and the northern edges of Uganda and Tanzania and as far as the south-west coast of Iran.

The upsurge is threatening people’s livelihoods and food security in a region that is already seriously food insecure