New swarms of locusts are developing

Earlier this year, the worst swarms of desert locusts in decades decimated crops and pasture across East Africa and beyond, threatening the food security of the entire sub-region.

The ravenous insects spread rapidly in January and February through a number of countries in East Africa - including Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia - as well as areas of Pakistan. It became the worst infestation in Kenya for 70 years and the worst in Somalia and Ethiopia for 25.

The FAO now fears that favourable wet weather in March and beyond will lead to a second wave of swarms posing an "unprecidented threat" to livelihoods once again.

Insect numbers could grow another 20 times, the FAO warns, unless control activities are stepped up.

A number of countries are on locust alert

Source: FAO, April 2020

This could be particularly devastating in East Africa - a region already suffering widespread food insecurity because of conflict, droughts and floods. But the situation is also worrying in Iran and Yemen, the FAO says, where new swarms are also developing.

Tens of thousands of hectares of croplands and pasture have already been damaged by locusts throughout East Africa.

At their peak earlier this year, swarms were eating 1.8m tonnes of vegetation a day across 350 sq km (135 sq miles), the FAO says.

The organisation believes one swarm in Kenya covered an area 40km by 60km (25 miles and 40 miles).

How much can a locust consume?

An adult desert locust can eat its own weight in food every day - about 2g

Source: FAO

The prospect of a new wave of locusts in Kenya and Ethiopia, possibly bigger than the first, is worrying in itself, but the timing couldn't be worse, says Keith Cressman, the FAO's senior locust forecasting officer.

"Now is the beginning of the rainy season in those countries and the beginning of planting. Seeds are germinating and they're sprouting and now you've got locust swarms."

These current maturing swarms will soon lay eggs that will produce another generation of locusts maturing around harvest time, Mr Cressman says, threatening crops twice.

The locust crisis also comes at a time when countries are dealing with a rise in coronavirus cases as well as the asssociated restrictions on movements, complicating control operations.

Ali Bila Waqo, a 68-year-old farmer working in north-eastern Kenya, was one of those affected by the recent swarms. He was hopeful of a good grain harvest this season, with recent rainfall ending a long period of drought.

But locusts destroyed all his maize and beans in February.

"They ate most of our grains and what they didn't eat, dried up," he says. "That has hurt us a lot. We saw the food with our eyes but we never even got to enjoy it."

Mr Waqo, who remembers a previous locust infestation in the 1960s, describes how the swarms blacken the skies.

"It gets dark and you can't even see the sun," he says.