The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is warning that another generation of breeding is underway in the Horn of Africa.
According to the most recent update from the FAO’s Desert Locust Information Service (DLIS), the situation is very critical in Ethiopia and Somalia, where more swarms are now forming. They are expected to pose a threat to Kenya when likely to migrate southward by mid-December.
The number of locusts is also increasing along both sides of the southern Red Sea.
Although countries are better prepared than compared to a year ago, survey and control operations must be ongoing to detect and reduce as many infestations as possible, says the DLIS.
The latest data shows that numerous swarms are present along the western and eastern edges of the Afar and Somali regions in Ethiopia’s northern Rift Valley. Several of the swarms have moved into the highlands of Tigray and Amhara, although the majority are headed south into the Rift Valley to Asela, and east to the Harar Highlands and beyond into the Ogaden to Degeh Bur. Hatching and band formation of the new generation that has already been detected in the far eastern portion of the Somali region is expected to increase in November. Aerial and ground control operations to combat the infestation are in progress.
Both immature and mature swarms are present in northwest Somalia between Boroma and Hargeisa, while mature adult groups and swarms and breeding has been detected in the northeast and in central areas of Mudug and Galgaduud. Further hatching and band formation already underway is expected to increase in the coming weeks. The current swarms remain north of Beled Weyne and the Shebelle River, but there have also been unconfirmed reports of locusts in the south. Aerial and ground control operations with biopesticides are being continued.
In Kenya, a few small maturing swarms persist in Samburu county, and local breeding could eventually occur in the northwest with coming rainfall. The DLIS estimates there is a low risk that a few swarms currently in Ethiopia may migrate into northeast Kenya around mid-November. As mentioned earlier, the next generation of swarms that form in eastern Ethiopia and central Somalia are likely to arrive in Kenya sometime after mid-December.
Several immature swarms from northeastern Ethiopia have already arrived recently in Eritrea’s highlands south of Asmara, where they are likely to migrate on to the coast of the Red Sea. Hopper groups persist on the sea’s central coastal plains near Sheib following rainfall in early October. Immature adults are forming into groups; and fledging, the final stage of locust development into winged adults, is also underway. Ground control operations are being continued.
Control operations are also ongoing in Sudan, where there has been more hatching and the formation of hopper bands in the east between the Red Sea Hills and the Atbara River. Some of the hoppers are fledging and forming into bands of immature adults; both of which have also been detected in the Tokar Delta on the Red Sea coast. Solitarious adults have been forming into a few swarns in the summer breeding areas of the interior.
Breeding is also in progress in Yemen on the northern Red Sea coast near Al Zurah, where late instar hopper bands and the formation of immature adult groups have been identified. Mature adults have been detected on the central coast near Hodeidah and to the south, while summer-bred swarms from the interior that moved into the highlands near Sana’a, Ibb, and Ad Dali are continuing migration to the coastal plains of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. A few other immature adult groups and swarms are believed to be in the interior are likely to head toward coastal areas. While breeding is expected to continue on the Red Sea coast it is deemed less likely to occur on the Gulf of Aden shoreline, due to dry conditions. Control operations against the insects are ongoing.
Ground control operations are also continuing to be carried out in Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea coast against hopper groups near Lith and immature adult groups north of Jizan. The DLIS predicts a surge of breeding in the Kingdom, as well.
There is good news, however, in West Africa and southwest Asia, where assessment of the locust situation “remains calm,” according to the DLIS.