the East African countries are approaching swarms of hungry locusts. They were "occupied" by Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. In the Food and agriculture organization of the UN (FAO) are worried that these insects will soon reach other countries in the region, with serious economic and humanitarian consequences.
"this situation takes on an international dimension and threatens the food security of the entire subregion. FAO will intensify measures to support governments in organizing a collective campaign to fight against this crisis," said FAO Director-General qu Donjoy.
Expert warned that unless urgent measures are taken, by June the number of insects devouring a crop, can be increased 500 times.
the regional Authorities are already taking measures to combat locusts, but because of the scale and inevitability of the threat, they need financial support from the international community. FAO is ready to help. At this stage, based on preliminary estimates, the FAO asks to allocate for these purposes $ 70 million.
Ethiopia and Somalia did not experience such mass invasions of desert locusts in 25 years, while Kenya has not faced a threat of this magnitude in 70 years.
day one insect eats so much, how many it weighs about 2 grams. A ton of bugs that usually is only a small part of the pack for a day consumes as much as 2.5 thousand people. A swarm of locusts moves with a speed of up to 150 kilometers a day.
* the Book of Joel, Chapter 1
