New swarms of desert locusts will threaten West Africa in June, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has warned.
The FAO, in a report, said desert locusts will continue breeding in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and West Africa.
“In the coming months, Desert Locusts will continue breeding in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. New swarms will form in June and migrate to the Sudan through South Sudan and pose a risk to the Sahel in West Africa,” it said.
The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, QU Dongyu, warned that efforts to control desert locusts will take time.
In this report, he noted that increased concern for the Sahel and Southwest Asia is adding to the burden of efforts ongoing in the Horn of Africa and Yemen.
The swarms are a result of heavy rainfall and cyclones over the past two years, which provide ideal environments for rapid breeding.
Desert locusts are the most destructive of all locust species, known for their speedy growth and enormous appetites.
A swarm containing an estimated 200 billion locusts was recorded in Kenya. Each insect can eat its own weight in food – that equates to about as much food as 84 million people a day. Read more…
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