The locust swarms also have been sighted in Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania, and Congo. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has called the locust outbreak, caused in part by climate change, “an unprecedented threat” to food security and livelihoods. The locusts are “invading the Eastern Africa region in exceptionally large swarms like never seen before,” the Nairobi-based Climate Prediction and Application Center said. Aerial spraying is the only effective way to control the locust outbreak. But ministry spokesman Moges Hailu spoke of an ominous sign: The locust swarms are now appearing in locations where they had not been previously sighted.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 10, 2020 12:00 UTC