Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Somalia Hit by Worst Locust Invasion in 25 Years

VOA News

   Tens of thousands of hectares of farmlandisbeing destroyed as desert
   locusts swarm over Somalia, in the worst invasion in 25 years.
   The locusts have damaged about 70,000 hectares of farmland in Somalia
   and neighboring eastern Ethiopia, the U.N.Food and Agriculture
   Organization (FAO) said Wednesday.
   VOA's Harun Maruf tweeted dramatic videos of the insects flying over
   the central Somali town of Adado:

     Video: Huge locust swarm over Adado town today. Somalia faces the
     worst Desert Locust outbreak in over 25 years according to
     [1]@FAOSomalia [2]pic.twitter.com/2ZuI0vEhDI
     -- Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) [3]December 18, 2019

   The FAO said the locust invasionwas worse thanhad been predicted and
   waslikely to spread to other nations in the Horn of Africa, including
   Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, South Sudan and Sudan.
   "As the weather seems favorable for the locust breeding, there is a
   high probability that the locust will continue to breed until
   March-April 2020," FAO regional coordinator David Phiri said.
   "I was supposed to get up to 3,000 kilograms ofteff[a cereal grass]and
   maize this year, but because of desert locusts and untimely rains, I
   only got 400 kilogramsof maize and expect only 200 kilogramsofteff,"
   Ethiopian farmer Ashagre Molla, 66, said. "This is not even enough to
   feed my family."

References

   1. https://twitter.com/FAOSomalia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   2. https://t.co/2ZuI0vEhDI
   3. https://twitter.com/HarunMaruf/status/1207315600030216194?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

.