UN calls for intensified efforts to deal with locust outbreak

The United Nations (UN) has called for intensified international efforts to deal with the locust outbreak that has affected large parts of the African continent as well as the Middle East.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) disclosed that desert locust swarms are a major food security peril, and have continued to migrate across 20 countries, from West Africa to India.

In the Sultanate of Oman, The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, in cooperation with Muscat Municipality, has controlled locusts at some locations in Muscat Governorate. Few small swarms have migrated southwards towards Salalah. The ministry has cautioned citizens and livestock breeders, as spraying operations continue, to control the spread of desert locust swarms.