The Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG) recently conducted a regional Desert Locust (DL) impact assessment in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda, during which 10,831 agricultural respondents living in DL-affected areas were interviewed .

Findings indicate that amongst respondents who either 1) currently had crops in their fields, or 2) owned livestock. Roughly a third experienced desert-locust related pasture or crop losses. The losses were often quite large, i.e. approximately half of impacted cropping and livestock-rearing respondents experienced high or very high losses to their crops and rangeland, respectively. The locusts were causing emotional stress, environmental impacts, increased food insecurity or malnutrition, and animal health issues.

Given the already high levels of food insecurity across the region, these challenges threaten to further drive food security deteriorations in the coming months.