The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Wednesday warned of possible locust outbreak in Ethiopia as a result of a recent rainfall.
In the past few days, light to moderate rains fell in southern Ethiopia that could be sufficient to allow the swarms present in the country to mature and eventually lay eggs, which would give rise to another generation of breeding, it said in a statement.
However, the scale of spring breeding is expected to be limited because of on-going control operations that continue to reduce the number of swarms and the likelihood of poor spring rains starting next month, it added.
Immature swarms persist in Oromia (East Harerghe, Arsi, Borena zones) and SNNP (South Omo, Konso) regions, including southern areas of the Rift Valley where more swarms were reported, according to the statement.
According to the FAO, the present situation in the Horn of Africa differs significantly from one year ago.
The current swarms are smaller in size and less numerous.
FAO recently said the desert locust infestation in Ethiopia has worsened, despite ongoing ground and aerial control operations.
It said eggs are hatched profusely and forming hopper bands in Ethiopia’s Somali region, due to the heavy rainfall in November last year.
The hopper bands recorded to date have covered more than 351 km2 and consumed at least 1,755 000mt of green vegetation per day.
MG/as/APA