The Weather Channel|second wave of locusts fueled by rains that made for prime breeding grounds is swarming into parts of Africa, bringing billions more of the voracious insects to some regions already plagued by the worst outbreak of locusts in 70 years.
“The current situation in East Africa remains extremely alarming as hopper bands and an increasing number of new swarms form in northern and central Kenya, southern Ethiopia and Somalia,” according to an update Wednesday from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Locust Watch. “This represents an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods because it coincides with the beginning of the long rains and the planting season … Widespread rains that fell in late March could allow a dramatic increase in locust numbers in East Africa, eastern Yemen and southern Iran in the coming months.”
The locusts are also spreading into Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Pakistan and Iran.
A single area of just under half a square mile can hold between 40 and 80 million locusts. Swarms can move up to 90 miles a day and strip all vegetation in their path. In one day, a single swarm can eat enough food to feed 35,000 people.
Video posted to social media showed hordes of locusts flying along a dirt road in northern Uganda.
Rainfall across the region was higher than average in March, according to the the Nairobi-based Climate Prediction and Application Center, continuing a trend of heavy rain dating back to October. Moist soil and fresh vegetation, both brought on by rainfall, create perfect breeding and growth conditions for locusts.
Efforts to combat them are being compounded by a plague of another sort – coronavirus. Officials say travel restrictions at border crossings are making it difficult to bring in pesticides, and field officers are no longer on duty due to the pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
“I think, unfortunately, because of other things going on around the world, people are forgetting about the problem with the locusts,” farmer George Dodds told the FAO. “But it’s a very, very real problem.”