The livelihood farmers and other food growers East Africa is under attack locusts. Authorities say swarms of millions of locusts are ravaging large swathes farmland and vegetation. Millions of people are risk after the insects destroyed crops Eritrea, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. The swarms locusts are spreading and could affect the agriculture, bushland and forests of neighbouring countries. The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) report that some swarms have been sighted as far afield as Yemen and Oman the Gulf. It is the worst locust invasion 70 years and some say it is reaching Biblical proportions.
The locust invasion is seriously affecting the lives over 12 million people. Many these were already experiencing food insecurity due to poor harvests a lack of rain. The swarms of locusts will only worsen the plight people living in the region. Locusts are extremely voracious pests. One locust can eat its entire body weight just 24 hours. A small swarm could chomp its way enough food to feed 35,000 people just one day. Esther Kithuka, a farmer Kenya, expressed her concern about the invasion. She said: "We depend a lot this season and we worry that the locusts will destroy our harvest and we will end remaining hungry through the rest the year [until] next cropping season."
