UK locust sprayers arrive in Pakistan to help tackle crisis

Islamabad:As many as 20 micro-sprayers from the UK have now arrived in Pakistan and will help immediately to tackle the devastating desert locust swarms.

They are the first 20 of 50 sprayers as part of a UK aid package of £1m to support the Government of Pakistan tackle to outbreak, which has been declared a national emergency.

UK funding will ensure: 50 sprayers (20 of which have arrived) to be sent to control locusts and help to ensure food security; 1,300 PPE kits help ensure surveillance and control operations can continue safely through the coronavirus pandemic; 18,000 vulnerable farmers are helped; The sprayers are from UK-based company, Micron Sprayers Ltd. It has over 50 years of industry experience, and its products are used in over a hundred countries across the globe.

Underlining the close trading relationship between the UK and Pakistan, Micron Sprayers Ltd is also working on a separate agreement to supply 83 sprayers to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan. This agreement is not funded by UK aid.

UK aid has given £1 million to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to tackle swarms of locusts up until 30 September 2020, as part of our help support food security in Pakistan.

Dr Christian Turner CMG, British High Commissioner to Pakistan, spoke at a ceremony to hand over the sprayers to the Pakistan Government on Monday. He said:

“Make no mistake, this locust outbreak is a big challenge. That is why the UK, through aid to FAO, has worked to ensure these UK-manufactured crop sprayers get to Pakistan as soon as possible”.

The High Commissioner to Pakistan handed over the UK sprayers at the ceremony in Islamabad to Syed Fakhr Imam, Federal Secretary, Omar Hamid Khan from the Ministry of National Food Security and Research; and Mina Dowlatchahi, Country Representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, alongside DFID Pakistan Director Ann-abel Gerry.