Locusts swarm over Kenya - 22nd January 2020

Large swarms of desert locusts are spreading through Kenya. The insects have already destroyed crops in Somalia and Ethiopia.

The locusts are part of the grasshopper family. When they swarm, up to 80 million locusts come together and they can travel up to 130 kilometres a day.

Locusts cause major crop damage and severely affect the availability of food, leading to hunger and starvation.

'Food security' is now a key issue in this region.

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has said these recent locust invasions are the "worst situation in 25 years" in the Horn of Africa.

Desperate measures have seen police deployed to shoot in the air and spray teargas at the insects, and the Kenyan Government has obtained pesticides and two aircraft to spray the affected areas.

It's believed that 70,000 hectares of land have already been infested in Ethiopia and Somalia. There are fears that there are also growing populations of locusts in Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.