FAO warns numerous immature desert locust swarms persist in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya

 

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Friday warned numerous immature desert locust swarms persist in southern Ethiopia and Kenya.

The FAO, in its latest situation update, said there has been increased swarm movement in Ethiopia’s Oromia region across places including Harerge, Bale, Borema, Arsi; and the Southern region around South Omo.

The few swarms that moved to northern Ethiopia (Afar and Amhara) continued to Eritrea and reached the Red Sea coast where they were controlled, the FAO said.

In Kenya, immature swarms continue to spread westwards across northern and central counties where there are currently about 20 small swarms present, mostly about 50 hectares in size, it said.

According to the FAO, some of the swarms are in community areas and therefore cannot be treated. A small swarm reached Keiyo-Marakwet county in the west and another one was reported today in Turkana county in the northwest; hence, there is a risk that a few swarms could reach eastern Uganda and southeastern South Sudan.

The FAO, however, said that it appears that the peak of the Kenya invasion has now passed as there have been no new reports of incoming swarms in the past two days and no further swarm reports in the east.

It also noted that “intensive control operations” are underway in Kenya and southern Ethiopia to reduce the potential scale of the next generation of breeding.

According to the FAO, if rains fall in the next week or so, the swarms will quickly mature and lay eggs that will hatch and cause hopper bands to form; otherwise, this will be delayed until the arrival of the seasonal rains in March.

In Somalia, hopper bands are present on the northwest coast and in the northeast where some have started to fledge and will be forming immature swarms. Intensive control operations are underway to reduce the number of new swarms that will form this month, the FAO said.

Since June 2019, Ethiopia has been suffering from the worst desert locust invasion in about 25 years, affecting major crop-producing parts of the country.

The desert locust, which is considered as the “most dangerous of the nearly one dozen species of locusts,” is a major food security peril in desert areas across 20 countries, stretching from west Africa all the way to India, covering nearly 16 million square km, according to the United Nations.