Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are dealing with desert locust swarms of “unprecedented size and destructive potential” that could spill over into more countries in East Africa. Destroying hundreds of thousands of acres of crops, the outbreak is impacting the region’s food insecurity. Also, Kenya has not faced a locust threat of this magnitude in 70 years. Moreover, unusual climate conditions have favoured rapid locust reproduction. There is a risk to expand the locust swarms effect around the region, swarms potentially containing hundreds of millions of individual desert locusts can move 150 kilometres a day – devastating rural livelihoods.
