China donates 20 tons of pesticides, sprayers to Agriculture Ministry to fight desert locusts
The Chinese government has donated an assortment of items weighing 20 tons to help the Ministry of Agriculture in fighting desert locusts.
The items were handed over to the Minister for Agriculture, Vincent Ssempijja on Wednesday in Kampala.
Keep Reading
“I wish to register, on behalf of the Government of Uganda, our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the government of the People’s Republic of China who heard our call and have responded by providing material support towards the control of the desert locusts in Uganda,”Ssempijja said.
According to the minister, the donation included pesticides, sprayers, single use medical coverall, disposable gloves and disposable medical protective masks.
He however noted that 40 unmanned drones could not be delivered due to technical challenges including Coronavirus because some factories are yet not operational.
Ssempijja said the donation was airlifted by the Chinese government to Entebbe using Ethiopian Airlines last month and has been well received the by the ministry.
“The last wave of desert locusts invaded Uganda from Kenya on May 16 and 20, 2020 and these roosted in Karenga and Kaabong districts. This support will indeed take us very far in this effort of ensuring food security for the people of Uganda,” he said.
The Chinese Ambassador Zheng ZhuQiang applauded Uganda for the relationship between the two countries adding that it will continue to flourish.
An assessment carried out by Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Program in Karamoja and Teso shows it would cost between $12 million and $42 million to safeguard and restore livelihoods if surveillance and locust management measures are lacking or ineffective.
An estimated 291,000 people are already considered severely food insecure in the two regions, and another 1.32 million people could be at risk.
