The other outbreak engulfing eastern Africa
<p><span>Coronavirus has continued to dominate the news cycle as governments around the world increase their efforts in limiting the spread.</span></p>
<p><span>However, another plague is threatening food, jobs and health on three continents.</span></p>
<p><span>Hundreds of billions of locusts are swarming through parts of East Africa, the Middle East and South-West Asia, devouring crops and bringing an unprecedented threat to food security in what the United Nations (UN) described as the worst infestations in decades.</span></p>
<p><span>The upsurge of the desert locusts could be traced back to 2018, when cyclones in the southern Arabian Peninsula – along with poor rains, drought and floods – provided favourable breeding conditions which allowed the undetected and uncontrolled breeding of three generations.</span></p>
<p><span>“It is these weather events which are creating the environment to facilitate the current locust outbreak,” said Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock. </span></p>
<p><span>“Unusually heavy rains and increase in the frequency in cyclones in the Indian Ocean have created favourable conditions for the locusts to breed.”</span></p>
<p><span>The first swarms started invading Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran in early 2019 and went on to breed and move to other countries including Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Pakistan and India.</span></p>
<p><span>By early 2020, infestation in Kenya has reached its worst in 70 years with up to 200 billion locusts while Somalia and Ethiopia are experiencing their biggest outbreaks in a quarter of a century. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned that the number of locusts could expand <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-26/east-africas-huge-locust-outbreak-major-hunger-threat/12004470">500 times by June</a>.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr">Desert locust swarms could create a serious food crisis in East Africa. <br /><br />It is the worst outbreak in decades. <br /><br />Learn more 👉<a href="https://t.co/pKAnXLgc6P">https://t.co/pKAnXLgc6P</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Desertlocust?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Desertlocust</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Locusts?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Locusts</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/foodsecurity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#foodsecurity</a> <a href="https://t.co/FEiFHSUxxw">pic.twitter.com/FEiFHSUxxw</a></p>
— FAO (@FAO) <a href="https://twitter.com/FAO/status/1230794272317870081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
<p><span>During plagues, the locust population could spread to 20 per cent of the Earth’s land and affect more than 65 per cent of the world’s poorest countries, according to <a href="http://www.fao.org/food-chain-crisis/how-we-work/plant-protection/locusts/en/">the UN</a>.</span></p>
<p><span>Speaking at <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/02/1057071">UN Headquarters</a> in February, Lowcock said immediate action is needed as the rainy season beginning in March may exacerbate the situation. </span></p>
<p><span>“In this region where there is so much suffering and so much vulnerability and fragility, we simply cannot afford another major shock,”Lowcock said.</span></p>
<p><span>“We do have a chance to nip this problem in the bud, but that’s not what we’re doing at the moment. We’re running out of time.</span></p>
<p><span>“There is a risk of a catastrophe. Perhaps we can prevent it; we have an obligation to try. Unless we act now, we’re unlikely to do so.”</span></p>
<p><span>The FAO has appealed for $138 million in funding to assist the countries in curbing the spread, but has amassed just <a href="http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1263867/icode/">$52 million as of mid-March.</a></span></p>
