The UN is appealing for urgent international action as the worst swarms of desert locusts in decades threaten to devastate farming regions across east Africa.
The body’s Food and Agriculture Organization is calling for emergency funding of $70m to combat the locusts through aerial spraying as swarms — some of them billions strong and one the size of Moscow — make their way from Ethiopia and Somalia across Kenya.
Uganda and South Sudan — the latter especially vulnerable to hunger after years of civil war — are also at risk.
The Kenyan invasion is already the worst in 70 years, while in Ethiopia and Somalia it is the worst for 25 years. The FAO warned as early as November that Ethiopia was in danger, and says that if unchecked, the number of locusts across the region could multiply 500 times by June.
“This has become a situation of international dimensions that threatens the food security of the entire subregion,” said Qu Dongyu, director-general of the FAO. “Authorities in the region have already jump-started control activities, but in view of the scale and urgency of the threat, additional financial backing from the international donor community is needed so they can access the tools and resources required.”
