THE FIGHT AGAINST LOCUSTS IN AFRICA

Following up on the story of locusts in Africa.

One of the commonest stories in the whole world (especially in Africa) is of the deadly locusts that have invaded the continent with Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea and most recently, Tanzania and Uganda affected most. The story of locusts however started with many especially the local citizens doubting about the possible effects of having the locusts in their areas. In fact, many thought it was a simple challenge that could not leave any big effect. However, the stories which started as simple stories later on turned into seriously bad news as the locusts infested some of the areas referred to and devoured everything as their culture is.

We are so grateful to the governments of the affected countries for the quick responses they gave to the threat for the good of their citizens. We are also grateful to the various organizations especially the United Nations (FAO), The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund, Action Against Hunger, Self Help Africa and several others which have put a lot of effort to support the fight against the threat through conducting research in regard to the threat, spreading information about the threat, funding fight against the threat, helping the affected homes and through several other ways they have assisted.

These deadly insects invaded East Africa in the early February of this year (2020) and as it is their habit, they ate every crop in every area they passed or settled for any day. It is on record that locusts are the worst crop pests that can leave no crop at all if they invade any area. This means that all areas where locusts passed or settled shall face a big challenge of famine, drought and desertification. It is therefore important that everyone responsible takes action to support the affected areas not only in the process of fighting the locusts but also in supporting lives of the affected people.

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Locust swarm: UN warns of food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia

The East African region could be on the verge of a food crisis if huge swarms of locusts devouring crops and pasture are not brought under control, a top UN official has told the BBC.

The five: things you need to know about locusts

The insects have been swarming across East Africa in numbers not seen for decades – and the phenomenon may be more common in the future

SCIENCE

A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame.

Human activity has made an ocean circulation pattern misbehave—triggering a weird confluence of events that has caused the infestations.

The Terrifying Science Behind the Locust Plagues of Africa

With hundreds of billions of locusts tearing through farmland, it’s the worst outbreak to strike the region in decades.

Locusts are actually special kinds of grasshoppers known for their gregariousness, and not in a good way. Around 20 species of the 7,000 known grasshopper varieties transform into what’s known as a gregarious phenotype, which means their bodies actually change as they socialize into swarms. Normally solitarious (a word that locust biologists made up, by the way), they change color and grow bigger muscles as they gather into massive clouds, rolling across landscapes and devastating crops. “They have this sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde switch,” says Arianne Cease, director of the Global Locust Initiative at Arizona State University.(The kind of desert locust currently plaguing East Africa is in fact named for this tendency to socialize: Schistocerca gregaria.)

Swarms of up to 80 Million Locusts Decimating Crops In East Africa, Threatening Food Security For 13 Million People

Uganda approves $1.8m in efforts to fight locust invasion

The Minister of State for animal husbandry, Aggrey Bagiire, said Tuesday that 200 motorised pumps, 300 knapsack spray pumps, and 10,000 litres of chemical spray have been deployed so far. Government has deployed 2,000 soldiers to push back the locusts.