Second Wave Of Locusts To Cause Food Shortages In Africa, S Asia

Second Biblical Wave of Vicious Locusts Invades East Africa, Pakistan, India

A locust swarm of biblical proportions is expected to invade Kenya via Ethiopia, for the second time this year.

Meanwhile, an unprecedented locust attack is threatening food security in Pakistan and South Asia, with some farmers saying locusts are already gobbling up their crops and swarms gather to sweep across the region

Governments and the U.N. have warned that the locust will cause major food shortage in the region…

Locusts, pandemics, floods: East Africa, Pakistan and South Asia can’t catch a break!

As deadly flooding leaves thousands homeless across those countries, a second wave of locust threatens the food supplyin the region.

Earlier this week, deadly flooding and landslides in the eastern part of the country killed at least 100 and left over 1,800 homeless. This comes just weeks after flooding in the western part of the country left scores more homeless, too.

Now, a locust swarm of biblical proportions is expected to invade Kenya via Ethiopia for the second time this year. Here a incredible video from Pakistan:

The first swarm was the largest swarm that east Africa had seen in over 30 years, and the worst Kenya had seen in 70 years.

The swarms can move up to 100 miles a day, depending on the wind, and can eat their weight daily. The first generation swarm peaked in the region two months ago, with locusts numbering in the hundreds of millions.

Second generation swarm

This second generation swarm is even bigger and more threatening.

This is known as the second generation of the pests, meaning the first swarm reproduced. This second generation is younger and more aggressive than the first.

Practically, that means there are probably trillions of locusts in the current swarm. They also estimate that this swarm is 400 times stronger than the first.

Governments and the U.N. have warned that the locust will cause major food shortage in the region. In its latest locust watch update, the U.N. said the situation was “extremely alarming” as an increasing number of new swarms form in north and central Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.

There are currently 18 swarms in Kenya. Regional governments have asked for financial aid to fight the swarms, but it is low priority due to the current health crisis and lockdown.

The swarms are near impossible to manage, especially without proper gear. As Ambroke Ngetich, FAO Project Officer in Kenya, told the BBC: “Every time you are trying to control in one region, there is another swarm that is happening in a different region and it is not possible to control them simultaneously.”

Tens of thousands of liters of pesticides haven’t been able to reach the region, as the pandemic closed international borders and disrupted the supply chain. Masses of adequate protective gear, to be used while spraying the pesticides, have also not made it to the region.

Even if the materials were able to be delivered, however, it could be too late. Current solutions have not and will not work, the FAO warns local countries, as the sizes of the swarms are too big for aerial spraying. Further, current spraying practices don’t kill everything, leaving bugs in the ground.

The locusts present “an extremely alarming and unprecedented threat” to food security and livelihoods, according to the U.N.

David Hughes from the U.N.’s FAO, told the BBC that the swarms “threaten the food of 23 million people. It is the number one food security issue in East Africa at the moment.”

The FAO warns that it will be too late to stop the locusts from spreading in less than six months, which would threaten millions with starvation.