The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) has signed a three-year, $3 million grant with the World Bank to set up an Inter-Regional Platform for the sustainable management of desert locusts and other trans-boundary pests.

The grant is part of the World Bank's Emergency Locust Response Programme Phase 3 and is expected to run until August 2024.

The overall goal of the Platform is to strengthen synergies, sustained management and control of desert locusts and other trans-boundary pests in the Igad region.

The platform will be extended not only to Igad member states, but to all countries affected by the desert locusts and other trans-boundary pests.

Operationalisation of the platform will be conducted in partnership with the Desert Locust Control Organisation for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA) and the Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC).

Key deliverables under the grant include: Guidelines for national preparedness plans for desert locust invasion to support Igad member states; support member states to finalise their national preparedness plans and development of a regional preparedness plan agreed with the member states; development and dissemination of knowledge management and communication products targeting member states, donors, and other stakeholders.

“The Inter-Regional Platform will provide an effective and well co-ordinated early warning system for continuous intensive surveillance and monitoring of desert locusts and other trans-boundary pests, for example, of locust breeding areas as well as ground and aerial control operations in order to detect and neutralise hopper bands or adult swarms in time to prevent more swarms from forming and ensuring the safe application of pesticides. Through the platform, management and prevention measures will be put in place, rather than merely the current reactive control measures,” said Igad.

So far, more than $200 million has been spent in fighting the locust scourge in the region, which allowed 2.2 million hectares to be treated, averting an estimated $1.7 billion worth of cereals and milk loss.

It is estimated that the control efforts have prevented 4.4 million tonnes of crop loss and saved 867 million litres of milk production and ultimately safeguarded the food security of 40 million people.

From the amount more than 300,000 households have received livelihood support since January 2020 mainly in Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia.