GENEVA / LOCUST EAST AFRICA
24-Jan-2020
00:01:56
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said it released ten million USD from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to scale up its response to the devastating desert locust outbreak in East Africa. OCHA said the Horn of Africa has been hit by the worst invasion of desert locusts in 25 years, posing a threat to food security to the population in East Africa that is already experiencing a high degree of food insecurity. UNTV CH
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STORY: GENEVA / LOCUST EAST AFRICA
TRT: 1:56
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 JANUARY 2020, GENEVA, SWTIZERLAND
TRT: 1:56
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24 JANUARY 2020, GENEVA, SWTIZERLAND
SHOTLIST
FILE - GENEVA, SWTIZERLAND
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
24 JANUARY 2020, GENEVA, SWTIZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. Close up, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“The ten million USD allocation from Central Emergency Response Funds will go to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and fund an increase in pesticide aerial spraying operations which, given the scale of the current swarms, is the only effective means to reduce the locust numbers.”
5. Close up, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“This desert locust is among the most dangerous migratory pests in the world. A single locust can travel 150km and eat its own weight in food – about two grams – each day. A small swarm can consume the equivalent of food for 35,000 people in one day. They reproduce rapidly and, if left unchecked, their current numbers could grow 500 times by June.”
7. Med shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We are trying to address the situation before it becomes extremely bad.”
9. Close up, hands
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“It’s an outbreak that is covering East Africa, the Horn of Africa. It has also been noted in Southwest Asia and the Red Sea, is the worst of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia – and it is also the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years. The impacts in these countries are particularly acute as pastures and crops are being wiped out in communities that were already facing food shortages.”
11. Various shots, journalists
1. Wide shot, Palais des Nations exterior
24 JANUARY 2020, GENEVA, SWTIZERLAND
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. Close up, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“The ten million USD allocation from Central Emergency Response Funds will go to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and fund an increase in pesticide aerial spraying operations which, given the scale of the current swarms, is the only effective means to reduce the locust numbers.”
5. Close up, journalist
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“This desert locust is among the most dangerous migratory pests in the world. A single locust can travel 150km and eat its own weight in food – about two grams – each day. A small swarm can consume the equivalent of food for 35,000 people in one day. They reproduce rapidly and, if left unchecked, their current numbers could grow 500 times by June.”
7. Med shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): “We are trying to address the situation before it becomes extremely bad.”
9. Close up, hands
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“It’s an outbreak that is covering East Africa, the Horn of Africa. It has also been noted in Southwest Asia and the Red Sea, is the worst of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia – and it is also the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years. The impacts in these countries are particularly acute as pastures and crops are being wiped out in communities that were already facing food shortages.”
11. Various shots, journalists
STORYLINE
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said it released ten million USD from its Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to scale up its response to the devastating desert locust outbreak in East Africa. OCHA said the Horn of Africa has been hit by the worst invasion of desert locusts in 25 years, posing a threat to food security to the population in East Africa that is already experiencing a high degree of food insecurity.
Speaking today (24 Jan) to the media at the United Nations in Geneva, OCHA’s spokesperson Jens Laerke said, “The ten million USD allocation from Central Emergency Response Funds will go to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and fund an increase in pesticide aerial spraying operations which, given the scale of the current swarms, is the only effective means to reduce the locust numbers.”
Irregular weather and climate conditions in 2019, including heavy rains between October and December, are suspected to have contributed to the spread of locusts in the region.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“This desert locust is among the most dangerous migratory pests in the world. A single locust can travel 150km and eat its own weight in food – about two grams – each day. A small swarm can consume the equivalent of food for 35,000 people in one day. They reproduce rapidly and, if left unchecked, their current numbers could grow 500 times by June.”
Laerke stressed that OCHA was trying to address the situation “before it becomes extremely bad.”
Major locust outbreaks can be devastating as seen in previous outbreaks which had resulted in major harvest losses.
The outbreak is exacerbating the impacts of climate change already being felt in this region.
In Ethiopia, where floods had already affected the harvest, the locust infestation has destroyed hundreds of square kilometres of vegetation in the Amhara and Tigray regions.
Kenya was hit by back-to-back droughts and then floods in 2019. During the past week a significant and extremely dangerous increase in swarm activity has been seen.
In Somalia, tens of thousands of hectares of land have been affected in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug (Mudug), and mature swarms are present in the Garbahare area, near the Kenyan border.
Laerke said, “It’s an outbreak that is covering East Africa, the Horn of Africa. It has also been noted in Southwest Asia and the Red Sea, is the worst of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia – and it is also the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years. The impacts in these countries are particularly acute as pastures and crops are being wiped out in communities that were already facing food shortages.”
Speaking today (24 Jan) to the media at the United Nations in Geneva, OCHA’s spokesperson Jens Laerke said, “The ten million USD allocation from Central Emergency Response Funds will go to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and fund an increase in pesticide aerial spraying operations which, given the scale of the current swarms, is the only effective means to reduce the locust numbers.”
Irregular weather and climate conditions in 2019, including heavy rains between October and December, are suspected to have contributed to the spread of locusts in the region.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jens Laerke, Spokesperson, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA):
“This desert locust is among the most dangerous migratory pests in the world. A single locust can travel 150km and eat its own weight in food – about two grams – each day. A small swarm can consume the equivalent of food for 35,000 people in one day. They reproduce rapidly and, if left unchecked, their current numbers could grow 500 times by June.”
Laerke stressed that OCHA was trying to address the situation “before it becomes extremely bad.”
Major locust outbreaks can be devastating as seen in previous outbreaks which had resulted in major harvest losses.
The outbreak is exacerbating the impacts of climate change already being felt in this region.
In Ethiopia, where floods had already affected the harvest, the locust infestation has destroyed hundreds of square kilometres of vegetation in the Amhara and Tigray regions.
Kenya was hit by back-to-back droughts and then floods in 2019. During the past week a significant and extremely dangerous increase in swarm activity has been seen.
In Somalia, tens of thousands of hectares of land have been affected in Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug (Mudug), and mature swarms are present in the Garbahare area, near the Kenyan border.
Laerke said, “It’s an outbreak that is covering East Africa, the Horn of Africa. It has also been noted in Southwest Asia and the Red Sea, is the worst of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia – and it is also the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years. The impacts in these countries are particularly acute as pastures and crops are being wiped out in communities that were already facing food shortages.”
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