By Uche Mbah
The United Nations has warned of a high possibility of food shortages worldwide if the locust inversion that has been crippling the horn of African and adjoining regions are not curtailed. Already Pakistan has declared a National Emergency on the invasion of locusts in the Country.
According to the UN, this year’s swarm has affected twenty percent of the earth’s landmass and ten percent of the earth’s food basket.
The infestation in Kenya is worst in seventy years, and that of Ethiopia is worst in 25 years. This has put yields in jeopardy for the next few years. It had quickly crossed to Uganda overnight and Tanzania and South Sudan are the latest entrants.
“In this region where there is so much suffering, and so much vulnerability and fragility, we simply cannot afford a major shock. That’s why we need to act quickly”, Mark Lowcock, a Un representative, told journalists at UN headquarters.
“We do have a chance of nipping this problem in the bud, but that’s not what we are doing at the moment. We are running out of time”
Religious conspiracy theorists have insisted that the locust invasion is part of the emerging tribulations on earth, which involves political crisis and natural disasters, but mostly the world is indifferent, regarding it as a third world problem. Although the UN is concerned enough to launch a $76 million drive to fight locusts, only about $20 million has been realized. Projections are that they will need more than $100million for the campaign.
Nigeria has not experienced locust swarm in recent times but fears are that the movement may be geared towards the West African subregion.
An average swarm contains about forty million insects and can travel up to 150 kilometers in a single day and can devour food that can feed thirty four million people within that time, according to the UN.
Part of the effect is on cattle and sheep which finds nothing to eat after a locust invasion.
