Desert Locust Swarms in Africa

U.N. officials say record numbers of desert locust swarms have spread from the Horn of Africa to the Persian Gulf region, despite efforts to contain the infestation through mass chemical spraying. The outbreak was initially confined mainly to Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, but FAO says it’s now tracking 15 countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia affected by the locusts. The swarms have appeared in a swath hundreds of miles wide, from South Sudan in the west to parts of Pakistan in the east. U.N. officials say the current locust infestation is the worst they’ve seen in 25 years. FAO and other agencies have been mobilizing funds to help pay for government response efforts. The main tool used to tackle the infestation has been mass spraying of chemical pesticides from aircraft or on the ground, but this began raising concerns over long-term environmental and health impacts. 

This infestation continues to pose a big threat to people in Africa, Middle East, and Somalia because the desert locust continue to destroy crops, land, houses, and even attack people if they go outside. This is ruining some people's only source of food and soon if the infestations continues no one will be able to harvest crops, or even be able to step outside. It is good that the government is using pesticides to help control the infestations, but hopefully the aftermath of environmental impacts will be very low and people can get back to harvesting their crops like normal.


Link:https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/desert-locust-swarms-continue-to-spread-in-africa-middle-east/