East Africa is being battered by an infestation of locusts. So far, the countries affected are South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti. CNBC notes: “Desert locusts can travel up to 150km (95 miles) a day, and a one-square-kilometer swarm can devour as much food as 35,000 people in a single day, according to the UN”. The UN is worried that as many as 25 million people could be food short because of the destruction of crops. These countries are already experiencing food insecurity because of violent conflicts in the region. The locust swarms have also spread into Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and Jordan is concerned that the swarms may reach that far north. There are also concerns that the swarms may reach South Asia: “By June, the locust population is set to grow 500 times spreading to West Asia”. Switzerland, China, and the US are rendering assistance to the affected countries, and the UN is trying to raise money to support the countries. But it is a plague that is very difficult to combat.
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