East Africa fears second wave – of locust swarms
New swarms of desert locusts are threatening the livelihoods of millions of people in the Horn of Africa and Yemen despite a year of control efforts, the United Nations has warned.
The UN says there have been good breeding conditions in eastern Ethiopia and Somalia, with Kenya also at risk.
And breeding underway on both sides of the Red Sea poses a new threat to Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
This year had already seen the worst East Africa invasion in 70 years.
“For Kenya, the threat is imminent, it could happen any time now,” Keith Cressman, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's senior locust forecasting officer told the BBC.
Between January and August this year East Africa saw billions of the insects destroying crops across the region.
“We lost so much of our pastures and vegetation because of the locusts and as a result we are still losing a good number of our livestock,” said Gonjoba Guyo, a pastoralist in North Horr sub-country in northern Kenya.
“I have lost 14 goats, four cows and two camels because of the locust outbreak and now there is lots of fear that we may face similar or worse consequences.”
FAO officials said countries in the region were now much better prepared than for the last invasion.
They say surveillance is high, and preparedness – such as spraying pesticides on the ground or from aeroplanes – is much better, with over one million acres of land treated for infestations in 10 countries.
But there are fears that communities might be overwhelmed if the swarms are really big.
So, how could the locusts breed again on such a threatening scale?
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