Hundreds of millions of grasshoppers 'attack' Africa, destroying crops

The largest grasshoppers in 25 years raging in East Africa, are a major threat to food security, especially in communities that have suffered from drought, war and famine.

In some places, grasshoppers swarm in like black clouds.Some people try to use sticks or scream to repel grasshoppers but hopelessly, according to AP.

This grasshopper is almost as long as a finger, millions of fly together, destroy crops and stab people.

Grasshoppers that are 'extremely dangerous ' are being recorded in Kenya, including 60 km long in the north, up to 40 km wide, according to the Intergovernmental Development Agency (IGAD).

A desert grasshopper can have 150 million grasshoppers on an area of ​​about 1km ² .

'Grasshoppers that migrate with the wind can travel 100-150 km per day,' IGAD said. 'On average, a single grasshopper in a day can destroy enough food crops for 2,500 people.'

An outbreak of desert grasshoppers , thought to be the most dangerous species, also affected Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea, and IGAD is warning South Sudan, Uganda to be the next victims.Grasshoppers continue to breed on both sides of the Red Sea, in Sudan, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warned the outbreak would threaten food security 'in Kenya and across the Horn of Africa, which has been affected by floods and drought' , with hundreds of thousands of hectares. destroyed crops.

Outbreaks of grasshoppers can last until June if favorable conditions for them to breed.Flooding is worse than usual in some areas in recent weeks.

Millions of people in the region have faced drought, constant flooding, as well as violence in Ethiopia, extreme terrorism in Somalia, and postwar civil war in South Sudan.

This phenomenon can have horrific consequences.During a major outbreak between 2003 and 2005, the cost of controlling in 20 North African countries amounted to more than US $ 500 million, and crop losses amounted to more than US $ 2.5 billion.

Officials responded by analyzing satellite images and spraying pesticides from above.

Ethiopian officials said they had sent small planes to deal with the invading locusts.

Kenyan media showed images of police firing bullets and tear gas at grasshoppers, while people smashed into buckets and honked car horns to repel them.The Laikipia region of northern Kenya plans to spray insecticide from the air.

'They have millions of them and will eat them all here,' said Peter Learpanai, a Samburu rancher. He was shaking his shirt to chase grasshoppers. 'The government has to do something hard to deal with them.'