H.R. 1079 would require the Administration to establish an interagency working group to address the ongoing outbreak of desert locust in East Africa. It also would require that working group, which would be led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to provide the Congress with its plan to control the current outbreak, mitigate its adverse effects on food supplies, economic productivity, and political stability in the region, and address future outbreaks.
In 2020 and 2021, USAID provided a total of $26 million for critical surveillance and pest control equipment, monitoring and detection training, and emergency food assistance in the locust-affected areas. Under current law, USAID coordinates the activities of several federal departments and agencies to monitor the evolving situation in East Africa and to support the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and other stakeholders in the region.
On the basis of information from USAID, CBO estimates that providing the required reports would cost less than $500,000 over the 2021-2026 period. Such spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
