CELEP co-signs call on locust crisis in the Horn

Desert locusts are breeding and spreading quickly through farm- and rangeland across the Horn of Africa – in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea and Tanzania. Somalia and Ethiopia are experiencing the worst locust crisis in over 25 years and Kenya the worst in over 70 years. The locust crisis could lead to major food crises for both humans and animals. It exacerbates the already vulnerable food-security situation and threat to livelihoods, especially for agropastoralist groups in the Horn, as it comes after a succession of previous shocks including drought and flooding and in a context of widespread conflict and displacement.

In response to this crisis, several international and national NGOs working in the Greater Horn of Africa – including ACTED, CELEP member Concern Worldwide, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Johanniter International Assistance – have formed a Regional Desert Locust Alliance (RDLA) to coordinate responses to the locust crisis and to call for greater national, regional and international support for local people in the Horn. The RDLA stresses the need for livelihood support so as to prevent that the locust crisis leads to a humanitarian disaster. It calls on donors to initiate timely funding for livelihood protection and early recovery activities now, rather than waiting and having to provide an expensive emergency response later in the year. In particular, it stresses the need to safeguard the livelihood resources and diet diversity of (agro)pastoralists and other vulnerable groups.

As a coalition focusing on pastoralism in Eastern Africa, CELEP has co-signed the RDLA statement on the Greater Horn of Africa locust crisis and joined the call to donors and policymakers to support the livelihoods of local people affected by this crisis.

Posted on 6 March 2020 in CELEP Documents, News, Pastoralist Livelihoods & Nutrition