This archive report was first published on 14 July 2020.
July 14, 2020
Kenya's desert locust crisis may be nearing an end as swarms migrate northwards, away from the country.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has reported that swarms of desert locusts that have been wreaking havoc in Northern Kenya are expected to migrate northwards across South Sudan, where they will breed in the country's summer breeding areas.
Desert locusts first entered Kenya on December 28, 2019, through Elwak in Mandera County, and had spread to 27 counties by March. The invasion has been contained in 24 counties, with a focus now on Marsabit and Turkana, where the government and its partners have intensified control measures.
Millions of nymphs, descendants of the first generation of locusts that bred in Kenya mid-February, have emerged in Samburu North and have caused significant damage to farms and grazing fields in Barsaloi and Lojorin.
However, the threat of an invasion by the swarms expected to arrive in Sudan from northwest Kenya is declining, as they have not yet crossed over and the rains have already hit the summer breeding areas of Sudan.
The FAO also notes that the swarms expected to arrive in Sudan are more likely to stay rather than continue to Chad, where ground monitoring is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the swarms in Northwest Kenya are likely to migrate north to Ethiopia, where they will disperse in the East and North areas to mature and breed, further increasing locust populations in the country.
Additionally, new swarms reported in Somalia could migrate to summer breeding areas along the India-Pakistan border, where breeding continues, prompting the two countries to take preparatory steps.
