Desert Locust Invasion Update: 14 February 2020

• Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan, and most recently Uganda and Tanzania, are faced with a desert locust outbreak, with Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya most affected.

• Ethiopia is likely to be hit the hardest by infestation. While giant swarms have been reported in Kenya and smaller ones in Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia, Ethiopia is the only country among them where adolescent or gregarious swarms are expected to descend en masse on cropland.

• Aerial and ground control measures are ongoing but are insufficient to contain the outbreak. An above average rainy season created favorable conditions for locust breeding in Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Red Sea area (Sudan, Eritrea). With the new cropping season coinciding with new hopper bands, the outbreak risks potentially destroying livelihoods and increasing food insecurity in Eastern Africa, which is still recovering from a severe drought and floods.