Kampala, UGANDA
The United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) says a small group of desert locusts has entered Congo,
marking the first time the voracious insects have been seen in the Central
African country since 1944.
The
agency says the mature locusts, carried in part by the wind, arrived on the
western shore of Lake Albert on Friday near the town of Bunia.
The
worst locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in 70 years also
recently reached South Sudan, a country where roughly half the population
already faces hunger after years of civil war.
Kenya,
Somalia and Uganda also have been battling the locust swarms, which can reach
the size of major cities.
The
insects can destroy crops and devastate pasture for animals, and experts have
warned that the outbreak is affecting millions of already vulnerable people
across the region.
Uganda’s
government said Tuesday it was trying to contain a large swarm and will need
more resources to control the infestation that has spread to over 20 districts
in the north. Soldiers have been battling swarms using hand-held spray pumps,
while experts have said aerial spraying is the only effective control.
The
U.N. recently raised its aid appeal from $76 million to $138 million, saying
the need for more help is urgent. Experts have warned that the number of
locusts if unchecked could grow 500 times by June, when drier weather is
expected in the region.
A
changing climate has contributed to this outbreak as a warming Indian Ocean
means more powerful tropical cyclones hitting the region. A cyclone late last
year in Somalia brought heavy rains that fed fresh vegetation to fuel the
locusts that were carried in by the wind from the Arabian Peninsula.
A
new generation of the locusts has been growing up in the Somalia desert in
recent weeks, preparing to take flight as the next wave headed toward Kenya,
Ethiopia and beyond. - Africa
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