New Generation of Desert Locusts Breeding in Horn of Africa

(Bloomberg) -- Desert locusts are breeding afresh in Ethiopia and Somalia and new swarms will form by mid-December and are likely to move southwards toward Kenya.

“Although countries are better prepared compared to a year ago, survey and control operations need to continue to detect and reduce as many infestations as possible,” the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a statement on its website.

The United Nations agency is leading the fight against the worst outbreak of the pests in 70 years. At the height of the infestation in March, 39 of Kenya’s 47 counties reported invasions of the insects that also swamped Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Yemen.

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