Long periods of rain around Eritrea and Sudan have lead to a substantial increase in locusts, which have now become a huge swarm threatening crops in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. One swarm crossed the border to Saudi Arabia last month, with further swarms following suit a week later. The swarms are the result of two cyclones of bad weather in 2018, which triggered a locust epidemic in the Empty Quarter region of Saudi Arabia, near the Yemen-Oman border. Another swarm has descended on southern Iran after travelling from Egypt, with the UN warning of a risk the locusts could spread towards the India-Pakistan border.
The UN’s locust expert Keith Cressman said in the warning: “The next three months will be critical to bring the locust situation under control before the summer breeding starts.
“The further spread of the current outbreak depends on two major factors – effective control and monitoring measures in locust breeding areas of Sudan, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia and the surrounding countries, and rainfall intensity between March and May along both sides of the Red Sea and in the interior of the Arabian Peninsula.”
Up to 200,000 acres of land in Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Sudan have been treated by pest control experts since last December.
Locust swarms can fly up to 93 miles a day with the wind and can consume approximately their own weight in fresh food per day, with a small swarm eating as much in one day as about 35,000 people meaning it does not take long for crops to be ruined.
The last major locust upsurge was between 2003 and 2005 when more than 12million hectares were treated in Africa, which incurred a staggering cost of about £574million ($750million) including food aid.
A meeting in Jordan will be held next week to discuss intensifying control measures with affected countries, the UN confirmed.