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메뚜기떼, 우간다 북부 등 아프리카 강타. 옥스팜 육십억 원 상당의 인도주의적 대응

2020.02.11 7775

메뚜기떼 우간다 북부 강타, 옥스팜 약 육십억 원 상당의 인도주의적 대응

케냐와 에디오피아, 소말리아를 괴롭히고 수단과 남수단을 위협한 메뚜기 떼가 우간다 북부 두 지역을 강타했다. 케냐는 70년 만에 최악의 메뚜기 떼 사태를 겪었다. 메뚜기 유충은 계속 생기고, 빨리 통제하지 않으면 더 넓은 지역에 전파될 수 있다.인도양에서 발생한 사이클론은 메뚜기떼 문제를 심화시킨다. 메뚜기떼는 목초지를 파괴해 새로운 작물이 자라는 것을 방해한다. 농사를 짓고 목축으로 생계를 이어가는 지역 농민들은 메뚜기 떼에 큰 피해를 받아 생계에 위협을 느끼고 있다. 옥스팜은 지역 파트너와 함께 4개의 나라 중 가장 피해가 심각한 지역을 돕고 있다. 또한 옥스팜은 메뚜기떼의 확산을 막고 지역 사람들의 생존을 지키고 재건하는 일에 앞장서고 있다.

10 February 2020

Locusts swarm into northern Uganda as Oxfam looks toward a $5m humanitarian response across region



Locust infestations have just hit two new districts in northern Uganda as they continue to plague Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, and threaten Sudan and South Sudan. There are also reports of the swarms now in Tanzania.

“Everyone is in panic and trying to make noise to drive the locusts away, says Oxfam’s Ethiopia Country Director Gezahegn Gebrehana.

This is the worst locust crisis in 70 years for Kenya alone. Locust breeding is continuing with more juvenile insects developing now, so the swarms could still get bigger, more widespread and last until June if not brought more quickly under control. There are already 22.8m people living in acute to severe food insecurity in those six countries following consecutive failed rainy seasons, unusual floods and storms.

The fast-moving locust swarms have been made worse by climate change because they have been encouraged to feed on newly “greened” vegetation, the result of unusual weather patterns. They are devastating pastures and grasslands and could ruin new food crops from the March-to-July growing season.

“We depend on livestock and if there is no fodder for our livestock, life will be difficult for us, we ask for help urgently,” said Mohammed Hassan Abdille, a farmer from Bura Dhima in Tana River, Kenya.

Oxfam is working closely with our local partners and communities to help the most affected people across the four countries with the outbreak.

Oxfam aims to reach over 190,000 of the most vulnerable people with cash assistance, livestock feed, seeds and health services. In Somalia, together with our partners, we aiming to reach 11,670 households of the most vulnerable people. In Kenya, Oxfam is working with members of the Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) Humanitarian Platform that has members in seven of the 13 affected counties and aims to assist 3000 households in the first phase of its operations, and another 5,000 in the second. In Ethiopia, Oxfam aims to reach another 5,000 households with similar aid.

Oxfam is ramping up its region-wide humanitarian response with $650,000 and will need to secure more than $5m to reach the most vulnerable people it has targeted. Oxfam teams in South Sudan and Sudan are also preparing against the likelihood of new infestations there.

Oxfam says that lessons from the last local plague in the Sahel in 2003-5 showed that a two-pronged attack was vital, to control the pests as well as work to do everything possible to protect local people’s livelihoods and restore them as quickly as possible.

Oxfam continues to urge international donors to fully fund the FAO’s $76m appeal as soon as possible. The current total stands at around $18m. “This is the time for decisive action,” said Gebrehana.