FAO warns of possible devastating locust outbreak in Afghanistan

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has warned of a large-scale outbreak of the Moroccan Locust across eight provinces in Afghanistan’s wheat areas in the north and northwest.

According to the UN, the locusts have been seen in different development stages in Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Kunduz, Samangan, Sar-e-Pul and Takhar, and more recently in Herat and Ghor provinces.

This comes amid a dire humanitarian crisis in the country. The report says,” Afghanistan remains the world’s largest humanitarian crisis in 2023, and the large-scale outbreak of the Moroccan Locust across the above-mentioned provinces will deteriorate the situation.

“The reports of Moroccan Locust outbreak in Afghanistan’s wheat basket are a huge concern. The Moroccan locust eats more than 150 species of plants, including tree crops, pastures and 50 food crops, all of which grow in Afghanistan. It represents an enormous threat to farmers, communities and the entire country,” said Richard Trenchard, the FAO Representative in Afghanistan.

“Harvest forecasts this year are the best we have seen for the last three years – but this outbreak threatens to destroy all these recent gains and dramatically worsen the food insecurity situation later this year and into next year,” Trenchard added.

The Moroccan Locust is ranked among the most economically damaging plant pests worldwide. The FAO said a full outbreak this year could result in crop losses ranging from 700,000 to 1.2 million tons of wheat — up to a quarter of the total annual harvest. This would translate to between $280 million and $480 million in economic loss.