Friday, February 14, 2020

'Apocalyptic Footage' Shows Millions Of Locusts Swarm - Famine To Follow


Apocalyptic Footage Shows Millions Of Locusts Swarm Motorist In Africa



As if the COVid-19 breakout across the world wasn't enough, there's another rare occurrence of an apocalyptic event unfolding across east African countries as hundreds of millions of locusts descend on farm fields and cities. 
These creatures have been reported to travel in swarms of millions that can sometimes measure up to 40 miles wide. These insects are now pushing through Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. 
"Huge" infestation is threatening to destroy communities and economies in east Africa that is entirely reliant on local food supply. One media source likened it to a Biblical Locust Plague With Swarms the Size of Cities.
The invading locusts are "deadly" in the sense that these 'mega-swarms' devour crops at an incredibly rapid pace — at a faster rate of destruction than other natural disasters.

A motorist in Kenya filmed one of the latest apocalyptic swarms in east Africa.
The clip was taken from an unknown location in Kenya, shows the moment when a motorist drove into a swarm of millions of locusts.
Out in the distance, a black blob can be seen, looks almost like a cloud, but when the vehicle drives closer, it turns out to be locusts.

Another Twitter handle by the name Samira Sawlani recorded video of another locust swarm. Sawlani said the locust swarms in east Africa could expand by over 500 times by summer. 
Here's another locust swarm, this time in Saudi Arabia. 

Now, this is crazy, a locust swam in Kenya consumes an entire valley. 

The map below shows locusts have already consumed east Africa, jeopardizing food supply, and could push many agricultural-based economies into the brink of crisis. 



The UN Food and Agricultural Organization is reportedly mobilizing an emergency response, given even small swarms can wipe out crop fields at sizes constituting enough food that could have fed tens of thousands of people in a single day, which makes it a humanitarian disaster in the making.
If locust swarms are coupled with a COVid-19 breakout, parts of Africa could be in great danger. Week 7 into the new decade, and it seems the world is on fire. 



UN warns of potential 'catastrophe' as billions of locusts consume crops


The locusts are so bad in some parts of Kenya that entire fields of crops are being devoured in as little as 30 seconds. 
Moses Omondi, a program officer at Farm Radio, a charity that works with to bring information and news to farmers, says that in Kitui County, in eastern Kenya, there were no locusts this time last week. Now, entire farms have been destroyed. 
Here's part of his conversation with As It Happens host, Carol Off. 
Today one farmer [told me] all of his crops have already been consumed. 
He is affected psychologically to the extent of telling me that, 'If worst comes to worst, I can even commit suicide.' The reason being, this is the source of his income. He's been taking his kid to school using farm produce. He's been paying bills using farm produce. So according to him, he [says], 'Moses, if this continues — if the government is not coming to act — then I'm thinking of committing suicide.' 
Most farmers are disturbed psychologically. Others are thinking that maybe it's a curse from God. 
Currently what most farmers are doing is ... drumming.
Others are using whistles. They're blowing the whistles from morning to evening. Some are even taking their lunch and breakfast and probably dinner ... blowing whistles. Others are [using] motorbikes by pressing on the horns to scare the locusts. Others are being helped by police reservists ... shooting guns so that the locusts can be scared. Others are shouting — literally shouting — the whole family, shouting on the farm to scare the locusts away. 

It's fun in the sense that when you're running through the locusts they'll come and ... try to prick you. 
But to some extent, it's not fun, because when you look at the amount of crops these locusts are consuming you [want to] cry, because this is what ... entire families depend on in terms of food security and all that. And, you know, the rains are not there. 
That means probably in the next six months or so, entire families will experience hunger. 
One of the things we understand from the interviews we've done about this is that ... the locusts are coming from places like Yemen and Somalia where there's war going on, where there's failed states. They can't stop the locusts ... And that all the different places where someone — some government — might act ot stop the locusts, they don't. So what's required here ... to stop these locusts from destroying all this food? 

As of now, especially the government of Kenya is thinking of pest management methods involving ground and aerial control ... using tested and registered chemicals that are not harmful to humans and the environment. Unfortunately, most farmers have a fear of the unknown.
They have a fear that maybe the pest management will be harmful to the soil, which in turn will bring more harm. 

[One farmer] was telling me that, 'You know what Moses, we are left to eat from the remnants of what the locusts have already consumed.' Which, in turn, they're not sure whether that's safe or not. No one is talking about that. 
In terms of their future, it's really not bright and there's nothing left to smile about ... especially the ones with small kids. Those are the ones who are really suffering most. And also the women, you know, the widows. 
They really don't have an alternative at all. 


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