East Africa hit by a second wave of locusts leaving millions of people food insecure
As the COVID-19 cases continue to rise across Africa, East Africa is facing another crisis.
A second wave of desert locusts is threatening to ruin new crops just a few months after initial swarms hit the region, where more than 20 million people are facing food insecurity.
"The timing is horrendous, because the farmers are just planting, and the seedlings are just coming up now since it's the beginning of the rainy season," says Keith Cressman, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO's) Senior Locust Forecasting Officer.
The February to May rainy season is the ideal time for farmers to plant crops, with harvesting anticipated from June to early July, which is precisely when the next swarm generation of locusts will be forming.
"There is no significant slowdown because all the affected countries working with FAO consider desert locusts a national priority," said Cyril Ferrand, FAO's Resilience Team Leader for East Africa, in a statement.
