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Pakistan Agriculture Crisis: Locust Outbreak & Rising Food Insecurity
P & R Vol.2 Issue 10
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Pakistan Agriculture Crisis: Locust Outbreak & Rising Food Insecurity

Publication Year : 2021
Author: Uzma Zia

Pakistan’s agriculture faced a desert locust attack in 2019-20. Agricultural crops in two provinces (Balochistan and Sindh) were badly affected. The presence of prolonged locust swarms since March 2108 was quite worrisome. The event has been declared as national emergency on February 1st,2020. In past years Locust swarms attack were also seen in the 1950s, 1960s and 1990s have caused immense losses to Pakistan’s agriculture. Current attack has also brought Pakistan at the brim of food security risk and agriculture crop damage. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Pakistan is under threat of an intense second-wave of invasion of locust. If the situation is not controlled, it will spread in the west of the country. Locust infestation may cause a loss of Rs 600 billion to Pakistani economy as added by FAO.