DESERT LOCUST INVASION SETS OFF ALARMS FOR HUNGER IN EAST AFRICA
LARGE swarms of desert locusts are spreading through Kenya, after wreaking havoc in Somalia and Ethiopia, posing a significant threat to aviation and food security. The locusts, part of the grasshopper family, have led to what the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has termed the “worst situation in 25 years” in the Horn of Africa. The FAO estimated that there was a low risk of breeding in Kenya, however, said a “potentially threatening situation” was developing on both sides of the Red Sea, with growing populations on the coasts of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
THE U.N. agricultural organization in December said some 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) of land had been infested in Ethiopia and Somalia.
“Insecurity and a lack of national capacity have so far not allowed control operations in Somalia,” the FAO said in a statement last week.
In addition to food security, some aviation hazards were also reported. Last week, Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 reportedly hit a hungry swarm of locusts as they were ingested into the engines and significantly reduced visibility from the cockpit windows while causing significant damage to the aircraft. Swarms formed in eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia and have moved through the region, possibly still threatening South Sudan and Uganda. According to the FAO, swarms can travel up to 130 km (80 miles) per day, a kilometer-wide (half-mile-wide) swarm can contain up to 80 million locusts.