Locusts Wreaking Havoc In East Africa

So much is happening in the world right now, that the invasion of locusts in East Africa has been widely overlooked.  Primaries in South Carolina and Super Tuesday right around the corner, have been covered extensively.  Now the coronavirus is something on everyone's mind, both here and abroad.  So while we fight to get a possible worldwide pandemic under control, Africa, specifically the Horn of Africa, is dealing with the worst invasion of desert locusts in 70 years.  The region hit is one of the most impoverished regions in the world.  It is said to look like a huge umbrella in the sky.  The insects fly through fields of crops at an astonishing pace, decimating everything in their path.

The highly mobile creatures can travel over 80 miles a day. Their swarms, which can contain as many as 80 million locust adults in each square kilometer, eat the same amount of food daily as about 35,000 people.

Officials say the infestation poses a risk to food security, undermines economic growth and, if not controlled soon, exacerbate communal conflict over grazing land.

In addition to the 12 million people already experiencing acute food shortages in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia, the locust crisis now poses a potential threat to the food security of over 20 million others, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, a U.N. agency.

“The magnitude of the problem is just so big,” said Cyril Ferrand, who leads the organization’s resilience team for eastern Africa. “The locusts are a moving target and we are racing against time.”

Scientists know how to control it, even to erradicate it, but because of lack of money and apathetic worldwide interest, response is slow.  In an area of the world already dealing with famine, this adds to their troubles.  A chemical spray to kill the locusts is on its way, but the locusts lay eggs and reproduce quickly, so the infestation will be difficult to erradicate. 
Here is some information from a worldwide organization that tracts the infestation.

Desert Locust situation update 24 February 2020

Swarms invade the Persian Gulf and continue to breed in the Horn of Africa The situation remains extremely alarming in the Horn of Africa, specifically Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia where widespread breeding is in progress and new swarms are expected to form in the coming weeks. In the past few days, there has been a significant movement of swarms over the Arabian Peninsula, unrelated to the Horn of Africa, that reached both sides of the Persian Gulf. Kenya. Swarms continue to be reported in northern and central areas where they are mostly mature and have laid eggs. Hatching is causing an increasing number of hopper bands to form with new swarm formation expected in the coming weeks. Mature swarms are also present along the shores of Lake Turkana. Aerial and ground control operations continue. Ethiopia. The situation is similar to Kenya with widespread swarms, breeding and hatching in Somali, Oromiya and SNNPR regions, including the Rift Valley. Movements further north can be expected as well as from adjacent areas of Somalia and Kenya. Somalia. Breeding continues in the northeast where new immature swarms are expected to form in about one week or so. Uganda. A mature swarm arrived in the northeast from adjacent areas of western Kenya on 24 February. South Sudan. Only remnants of an earlier mature swarm have been seen in the southeastern county of Magwi. A second mature swarm was seen near the border on 23 February. Tanzania. No new reports of swarms. DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). A small group of mature Desert Locust arrived on the western shore of Lake Albert near Bunia on 21 February after crossing northern Uganda on strong northeasterly winds. The country last received Desert Locust in 1944. Saudi Arabia. Ground control operations increased against hopper bands on the Red Sea coast and immature groups and swarms in the interior. Yemen. Another generation of breeding is in progress on the Red Sea coast where hatching and early instar hopper bands are forming. Immature and mature swarms were reported in the interior during this past week. Surveys remain limited and control could not be carried out. Persian Gulf. During several days of strong winds, dense immature swarms arrived in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and along the southwest coast of Iran between Bushehr and Kish Island on 20-21 February. More swarms are likely during periods of southerly winds. Control operations were immediately mounted in Iran.