Story at a glance
- Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia have seen the worst locust outbreaks in decades.
- The U.N. has asked for $76 million in aid.
- The outbreak threatens millions who depend on vegetation in the region.
Parts of East Africa are seeing the most devastating swarms of locusts in decades, putting crop production, food security and millions of lives at risk, according to the United Nations.
U.N. officials say immediate action is needed before more rainfall in the coming weeks brings fresh vegetation to feed swarms of locusts. Billions of locusts have been destroying crops in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. The outbreak is also moving into South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
U.N. officials said Monday the infestation in Kenya is the worst in 70 years, while Somalia and Ethiopia are seeing their worst outbreaks in 25 years.
An average swarm of locusts, which contains up to 40 million insects that can travel 150 kilometers in a day, can devour enough food to feed 34 million within that time.
“There is the risk of a catastrophe,” U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters Monday in New York Monday. “In this region where there is so much suffering and so much vulnerability and fragility, we simply cannot afford another major shock. And that’s why we need to act quickly.”
The insects have been thriving due to unusually heavy rains, and as more rain is expected in the region, experts say the insect numbers could grow up to 500 times before drier weather arrives.
Military forces have been deployed to help with pesticide spraying, while planes for aerial spraying are expected to fly over the region. Without enough aerial spraying to stop the swarms, experts warn the locust outbreak could turn into a plague, “and when you have a plague, it takes years to control,” Dominique Burgeon, emergency and resilience director with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, told the Associated Press.
The U.N. has asked for $76 million in aid to control the locusts’ spread. So far, only around $20 million has been received.
U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu warned that without quick action, the region will be facing a rapidly expanding humanitarian crisis.
Published on Feb 10,2020