Real Time Evaluation Of Fao S Response To The Desert Locust Upsurge 2020 2021 Phase Ii

A devastating desert locust upsurge has spread across parts of the Near East, the Greater Horn of Africa and South West Asia in 2020–2021, posing risks to livelihoods and food security in the region. FAO's intervention has been to curb the spread of desert locust, safeguarding livelihoods and providing recovery, and coordinating and preparing the rapid surge support. This report showcases the second phase of the real-time evaluation, in which the following issues have been investigated: i) country level results from case studies; ii) management and operational processes; and iii) extent to which lessons from countries and regions are transferred to other contexts. Six priority areas emerged from this process: i) country level training and capacity development; ii) national locust control and architecture; iii) procurement; iv) pesticide management; v) livelihoods support; and vi) innovation and learning.

Over the course of 2020, the most devastating Desert Locust upsurge of the past 25 years has spread across parts of the Middle East, the greater Horn of Africa, and southwest Asia. The upsurge poses an unprecedented risk to livelihoods and food security in some of the most food insecure countries in the world. FAO and its partners have mobilized more than USD 163 million since January 2020. The response includes three key pillars: (1) curbing the spread of desert locusts (including surveillance) (2) safeguarding livelihoods and promoting recovery and (3) coordination and preparedness of the rapid surge support. In this context, the FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) has been requested by the Director-General to conduct a real time evaluation (RTE), conducted across three phases spread over one year. Each phase will cover specific aspects of the response. Phase 1 focuses on leadership, management and coordination of the response and was conducted from June to October 2020. The findings, conclusions and recommendations of this phase 1 have been presented to a wide range of stakeholders and are developed in the Phase 1 report. Phase 2 focuses on results as well as management and operations at country level. Phase 3 will complete the RTE process drawing lessons for future operations and FAO’s work on desert locust in the region.

Over the course of 2020–2021, the most devastating desert locust upsurge of the past 25 years has spread across parts of the Near East, the Greater Horn of Africa and Southwest Asia. The upsurge poses an unprecedented risk to livelihoods and food security in some of the most food insecure countries in the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its partners have mobilized more than USD 243 million since January 2020. The response includes three key pillars: i) curbing the spread of desert locusts (including surveillance); ii) safeguarding livelihoods and promoting recovery; and iii) coordination and preparedness of the rapid surge support. In this context, the FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) has been requested by the Director-General to conduct a real time evaluation (RTE), conducted across three phases spread over one year. Each phase will cover specific aspects of the response. Phase III focuses on developing recommendations to improve preparedness for and response to future upsurges, collected through a consultative process with critical stakeholders involved in the desert locust response 2020–2021. Eight priority areas for recommendations emerged from this process, with distinct recommendations being made across each one: i) procurement and positioning; ii) training of local locust response teams; iii) embedding sustainable national locust control capacity; iv) optimizing the regional architecture for locust response; v) pesticide selection and stock management; vi) data collection, analysis and dissemination; vii) livelihoods support; and viii) innovation and learning. For each priority area, the evaluation has made a range of recommendations targeting either FAO headquarters, donors and partners, or FAO country offices.

On top of a decade of exacerbated disaster loss, exceptional global heat, retreating ice and rising sea levels, humanity and our food security face a range of new and unprecedented hazards, such as megafires, extreme weather events, desert locust swarms of magnitudes previously unseen, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people – most of them in low-income developing countries – and remains a key driver of development. At no other point in history has agriculture been faced with such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyperconnected world and a precipitously changing landscape. And agriculture continues to absorb a disproportionate share of the damage and loss wrought by disasters. Their growing frequency and intensity, along with the systemic nature of risk, are upending people’s lives, devastating livelihoods, and jeopardizing our entire food system. This report makes a powerful case for investing in resilience and disaster risk reduction – especially data gathering and analysis for evidence informed action – to ensure agriculture’s crucial role in achieving the future we want.

This report outlines the results of a household survey carried out in August–September 2020 to assess the impact of desert locust invasions on food security and livelihoods in Uganda. In 2019–2020, the Horn of Africa was affected by what was described by FAO as the worst desert locust infestation in over 25 years. Desert locust swarms pose a severe threat to agriculture-based livelihoods, particularly in areas where food security is already fragile. The first swarm of locusts entered the Ugandan subregion of Karamoja – already the most food-insecure subregion in the country – on 9 February 2020. By September 2020, desert locusts had been sighted in over 20 districts in the Acholi, Elgon, Karamoja, Lango, and Teso subregions. To assess the impact of the desert locust invasions, a survey of 7 800 households was carried out in the affected subregions. Data collection, processing, and analysis were carried out by a technical team comprising staff of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, district local governments, Makerere University and FAO; Catholic Relief Services provided support during the collection and validation of the data. The assessment found that the desert locust invasions had had a negative impact on the livelihoods and food security of a majority of households in all surveyed subregions. Based on the results of the assessment, a number of recommendations for response options (including control measures and livelihood support programmes) were formulated. A critical need to improve Uganda’s desert locust preparedness by strengthening the country’s capacities for real-time surveillance, rapid verification and deployment of control teams upon confirmation was highlighted.

Edible insects have always been a part of human diets, but in some societies there remains a degree of disdain and disgust for their consumption. Although the majority of consumed insects are gathered in forest habitats, mass-rearing systems are being developed in many countries. Insects offer a significant opportunity to merge traditional knowledge and modern science to improve human food security worldwide. This publication describes the contribution of insects to food security and examines future prospects for raising insects at a commercial scale to improve food and feed production, diversify diets, and support livelihoods in both developing and developed countries. It shows the many traditional and potential new uses of insects for direct human consumption and the opportunities for and constraints to farming them for food and feed. It examines the body of research on issues such as insect nutrition and food safety, the use of insects as animal feed, and the processing and preservation of insects and their products. It highlights the need to develop a regulatory framework to govern the use of insects for food security. And it presents case studies and examples from around the world. Edible insects are a promising alternative to the conventional production of meat, either for direct human consumption or for indirect use as feedstock. To fully realise this potential, much work needs to be done by a wide range of stakeholders. This publication will boost awareness of the many valuable roles that insects play in sustaining nature and human life, and it will stimulate debate on the expansion of the use of insects as food and feed.

Updates for many countries have made it possible to estimate hunger in the world with greater accuracy this year. In particular, newly accessible data enabled the revision of the entire series of undernourishment estimates for China back to 2000, resulting in a substantial downward shift of the series of the number of undernourished in the world. Nevertheless, the revision confirms the trend reported in past editions: the number of people affected by hunger globally has been slowly on the rise since 2014. The report also shows that the burden of malnutrition in all its forms continues to be a challenge. There has been some progress for child stunting, low birthweight and exclusive breastfeeding, but at a pace that is still too slow. Childhood overweight is not improving and adult obesity is on the rise in all regions. The report complements the usual assessment of food security and nutrition with projections of what the world may look like in 2030, if trends of the last decade continue. Projections show that the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030 and, despite some progress, most indicators are also not on track to meet global nutrition targets. The food security and nutritional status of the most vulnerable population groups is likely to deteriorate further due to the health and socio economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report puts a spotlight on diet quality as a critical link between food security and nutrition. Meeting SDG 2 targets will only be possible if people have enough food to eat and if what they are eating is nutritious and affordable. The report also introduces new analysis of the cost and affordability of healthy diets around the world, by region and in different development contexts. It presents valuations of the health and climate-change costs associated with current food consumption patterns, as well as the potential cost savings if food consumption patterns were to shift towards healthy diets that include sustainability considerations. The report then concludes with a discussion of the policies and strategies to transform food systems to ensure affordable healthy diets, as part of the required efforts to end both hunger and all forms of malnutrition.