Luanda - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) considered Tuesday, “exemplary” the model of control and monitoring the locust plague, which recently devastated the Angola’s provinces of Cunene and Cuando Cubango.
The recognition was expressed by FAO representative in Angola, Guarda Barreto, during a virtual meeting with the Angolan delegation, headed by the Secretary of State for Agriculture, João Costa, according to a press release sent to ANGOP on Wednesay.
Taking stock of the actions carried out in the country, for the control of the locust plague in the South Region, Guarda Barreto highlighted that Angola is implementing an exemplary community and institutional model, with diplomatic and National Air Force support, in terms of control and monitor locusts with practices that should be shared with other African countries.
On the occasion, the permanent representative of Angola to the FAO, Maria de Fátima Jardim, who was speaking from Rome, pointed out the importance of working more on capacity building, with the inclusion of academia and the use of agro-ecological knowledge for management this type of crisis.
Angola is a beneficiary of the Southern Africa Emergency Locust Response and Preparedness Project, funded by the FAO Technical Cooperation Programme, which has already provided USD 1 million and the Kingdom of Belgium with USD 400,000.
The project supports technical assistance and procurement to provide appropriate bio-pesticides, personal protective equipment, specialised locust control equipment and health monitoring material to strengthen the capacity of control units to implement timely ground operations.
Angola created a Multi-sector Commission to coordinate the activities of control and monitoring of locusts.
The Commission is coordinated by the Minister of State and Head of the Security Affairs’ Office to the President of the Republic, Pedro Sebastião, and by the Minister of State for the Social Area, Carolina Cerqueira.
The Commission comprises Ministries of Agriculture and Fisheries (MINAGRIP), Interior, Territorial Administration, Culture, Tourism and Environment and the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA).
Angola's Preparedness and Response Plan to control and monitor the locust plague, prepared by the Multi-sector Commission, includes, among other points, the setting up and training of a working group, monitoring for locust surveillance, locust control mechanism , acquisition plan, definition and risk management.
