Desert Locust Threat Increases in Horn of Africa, UN Says

(Bloomberg) -- The threat from locusts in the Horn of Africa and on the India-Pakistan border is “extremely serious,” the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said.

Good rains fell in the winter breeding areas along both sides of the Red Sea, in the Horn of Africa and in southern Iran, it said in a statement. “Breeding will occur on the Red Sea coast of Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt.”

“Hopper bands are likely to form in the Ogaden of Ethiopia from second-generation breeding and in northern Oman where a few swarms may arrive from the Indo-Pakistan area in December.”

Control operations in Pakistan and India treated 95,040 hectares (235,000 acres) in November. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Yemen treated 10,822 hectares, 6,060 hectares and 5,760 hectares respectively. “Countries should remain alert and be prepared,” the FAO said.

The situation is calm in the Western Region, where small-scale breeding occured in parts of the northern Sahel.

An adult locust can consume roughly its own weight of about 2 grams daily, and swarms can cover as much as 150 kilometers (93 miles) a day. A small swarm eats as much food daily as about 35,000 people, according to the FAO.

To contact the reporter on this story: Samuel Gebre in Abidjan at sgebre@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Hilton Shone, Alastair Reed

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.