Desert Locust Swarms Destroy Crops in East Africa - 20 Minutes
Since the start of 2020, billions of locusts have ravaged East Africa. These devastating crop swarms have already reached Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan and Tanzania. The United Nations Agency for Agriculture and Food (FAO) puts the cost of a plan to fight this scourge at $ 76 million and calls on the international community for help. 20 Minutes returns in pictures to the worst invasion of this migratory insect in 25 years.
Alarm against the increasing number of locusts: a new generation of the destructive pest is spreading in the Horn of Africa.
@FAO warns of an unprecedented threat to #food security and livelihoods 👉 https://t.co/OvTzMVht9N pic.twitter.com/grUpDKfNfp
The Desert Locust ( Schistocerca gregaria ) is the most destructive migratory pest in the world. It is herbivorous and eats the equivalent of its weight daily, that is two grams per day. A swarm of one square kilometer containing 80 million people consumes the equivalent of what 35,000 people eat in one day.
Consequence of global warming
The United Nations Agency for Agriculture and Food (FAO) had estimated at the end of January at "$ 76 million" the cost of a plan to control locusts. "So far, we have only had $ 20 million," UN Deputy Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock told AFP on February 10, 2020. Referring to a consequence of global warming, he said that this development of locusts was "the worst for 70 years for Kenya, and the worst for 25 years for Ethiopia or Somalia".
If the phenomenon were to worsen, over a year or more, it would become an “invasion” of locusts with very heavy consequences on future harvests for the food of the populations. There were six “invasions” of locusts in the 20th century, the last of which occurred in 1987-1989.
World
Uganda: Destructive Desert Locusts Arrive Massively In The Country
World
VIDEO. East Africa: Huge locust cloud threatens region with famine
- Insect
- Food
- Ethiopia
- Kenya
- Somalia
- Planet
- Africa