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WORLD NEWS Monday 27 January 2020

'This is huge': Locust swarms in Africa are worst in decades

By BEN CURTIS, JOSPHAT the U.N. says. That won't be
KASIRE and CARA ANNA easy, especially in Somalia,
Associated Press where parts of the country
KATITIKA, Kenya (AP) — The are in the grip of the al-
hum of millions of locusts on Qaida-linked al-Shabab
the move is broken by the extremist group.The rose-
screams of farmers and the colored locusts turn whole
clanging of pots and pans. trees pink, clinging to
But their noise-making does branches like quivering or-
little to stop the voracious naments before taking off
insects from feasting on in hungry, rustling clouds.
their crops in this rural com- Astonished by the finger-
munity. length insects, children
The worst outbreak of des- dash here and there, wav-
ert locusts in Kenya in 70 ing blankets or plucking
years has seen hundreds of at branches to shake the
millions of the bugs swarm locusts free. One woman,
into the East African nation Kanini Ndunda, batted at
from Somalia and Ethiopia. them with a shovel.
Those two countries have Even a small swarm of
not had an infestation like the insects can consume
this in a quarter-century, enough food for 35,000
destroying farmland and people in a single day, said A farmer looks back as she walks through swarms of desert locusts feeding on her crops, in Kati-
threatening an already vul- Jens Laerke of the U.N. hu- tika village, Kitui county, Kenya, Friday, Jan. 24, 2020.
nerable region with devas- manitarian office in Gene- Associated Press
tating hunger. va.
"Even cows are wondering Farmers are afraid to let long by 25 miles wide). A changing climate has but farmers are fighting it
what is happening," said their cattle out for grazing, Kenya needs more spray- contributed to "exception- in the traditional way," said
Ndunda Makanga, who and their crops of millet, ing equipment to supple- al" breeding conditions, Buni Orissa, a resident of
spent hours Friday trying to sorghum and maize are ment the four planes now said Nairobi-based climate Ethiopia's Sidama region.
chase the locusts from his vulnerable, but there is little flying, Tale said. Ethiopia scientist Abubakr Salih "The locusts love cabbage
farm. "Corn, sorghum, cow- they can do. also has four. Babiker. and beans. This may threat-
peas, they have eaten ev- About 70,000 hectares They also need a steady Migrating with the wind, en the shaky food security
erything." (172,973 acres) of land in supply of pesticides, said the locusts can cover up to in the region."
When rains arrive in March Kenya are already infested. Francis Kitoo, deputy direc- 150 kilometers (93 miles) in Even before this outbreak,
and bring new vegeta- "This one, ai! This is huge," tor of agriculture in south- a single day. They look like nearly 20 million peo-
tion across much of the said Kipkoech Tale, a mi- eastern Kenya's Kitui coun- tiny aircraft lazily crisscross- ple faced high levels of
region, the numbers of the gratory pest control spe- ty. ing the sky. food insecurity across the
fast-breeding locusts could cialist with the agriculture "The locals are really scared They are now heading to- East African region long
grow 500 times before drier ministry. "I'm talking about because they can con- ward Uganda and fragile challenged by periodic
weather in June curbs their over 20 swarms that we sume everything," Kitoo South Sudan, where almost droughts and floods.
spread, the United Nations have sprayed. We still have said. "I've never seen such half the country faces hun- As exasperated farmers
says. more. And more are com- a big number." ger as it emerges from civil look for more help in fight-
"We must act immediate- ing." The locusts eat the fodder war. Uganda has not had ing one of history's most
ly," said David Phiri of the A single swarm can contain for animals, a crucial source such an outbreak since persistent pests, the FAO's
U.N. Food and Agricultural up to 150 million locusts per of livelihood for families the 1960s and is already on Locust Watch offers little
Organization, as donors square kilometer of farm- who now worry how they alert. consolation.
huddled in Kenya's capital, land, an area the size of will pay for expenses like The locusts also are moving "Although giant nets,
Nairobi, a three-hour drive almost 250 football fields, school fees, he said. steadily toward Ethiopia's flamethrowers, lasers and
away. regional authorities say. His own concern about the Rift Valley, the breadbas- huge vacuums have been
About $70 million is needed One especially large swarm locusts? ket for Africa's second-most proposed in the past, these
to step up aerial pesticide in northeastern Kenya mea- "They will lay eggs and start populous country, the U.N. are not in use for locust
spraying, the only effec- sured 60 kilometers long by another generation," he says. control," the U.N. agency
tive way to combat them, 40 kilometers wide (37 miles said. "The situation is very bad says. q