Billions of locusts devastate the Horn of Africa. National emergency in Somalia
Rights — di Andrea Barolini
Gigantic swarms of locusts are devastating East Africa, destroying crops and threatening food security.
Billions of locusts devastate the Horn of Africa. National emergency in Somalia
Gigantic swarms of locusts are devastating East Africa, destroying crops and threatening food security.
Somalia has declared a state of national emergency due to a gigantic locust invasion that is hitting the entire Horn of Africa. International sources have reported swarms so large that in some areas they have reached dimensions of 60 kilometres by 40.
Some locust swarms cover an area the size of Luxembourg
Billions of insects are devastating the already precarious agriculture of some of the world's poorest nations. And in some cases they cover an area of 2,400 square kilometres: roughly that of a country like Luxembourg.
Swarms of desert locusts have spread across East Africa, threatening the livelihood of many people. They first appeared in Somalia and have since hit Kenya and Ethiopia, with other countries in the region also at risk reut.rs/31lL2tl
As early as 20 January, the United Nations had sounded the alarm. The locust invasion, which has also affected Ethiopia and Kenya, represents a "threat to the food security of the entire region". For this reason, according to the FAO, "it is necessary to launch a large-scale cross-border campaign to combat the phenomenon".
The FAO: new financial resources are urgently needed
To this end, the UN agency is calling for the urgent allocation of 63.1 million euros by the international community, with the aim of "protecting the livelihoods of the three nations". The locusts are "extremely numerous and display a destructive capacity never seen before. The swarms also risk growing even larger and reaching other nations in East Africa".
Video received of what i’m told is the locust invasion in Isiolo, Kenya.
Locusts have also affected parts of Mandera, Garissa, Wajir & neighbouring Somalia.
(Reports of locusts in Meru, local media quoting authorities as saying its grasshoppers)
Locusts have also affected parts of Mandera, Garissa, Wajir & neighbouring Somalia.
(Reports of locusts in Meru, local media quoting authorities as saying its grasshoppers)
"The countries in question have already begun control operations but need financial support," confirmed FAO Director-General Qu Dong. The risk is that, given the current size of the swarms, without intervention "by the month of June the number of insects could be multiplied by 500".
"Without intervention, the number of locusts could multiply by 500"
To understand the scale of the emergency, consider that locusts are capable of travelling 150 kilometres a day and of destroying in just a few dozen hours crops sufficient to feed thousands of human beings for months. The risk is that, faced with a phenomenon of such magnitude, the only immediate solution may be the large-scale use of pesticides.