The World Bank has approved $500m (£409m) in grants and low-interest loans to help countries in East Africa and the Middle East cope after swarms of locusts destroyed vast areas of crops.
The worst hit countries – Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda – will receive $160m immediately.
The funding is to help farmers, herders and rural households get fertiliser and seeds for new crops.
It will also help people buy food for their families and for livestock.
A World Bank official said in Kenya locusts were eating in one single day the same amount of food the nation consumed in two days.
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