'This is huge': Locust swarms in Africa are worst in decades

The worst outbreak of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years has seen hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm into the East African nation from Somalia and Ethiopia. Those two countries have not had an infestation like this in a quarter-century, destroying farmland and threatening an already vulnerable region with devastating hunger.

About $70 million is needed to step up aerial pesticide spraying, the only effective way to combat them, the U.N. says. That won't be easy, especially in Somalia, where parts of the country are in the grip of the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group. Farmers are afraid to let their cattle out for grazing, and their crops of millet, sorghum and maize are vulnerable, but there is little they can do."This one, ai! This is huge," said Kipkoech Tale, a migratory pest control specialist with the agriculture ministry. "I'm talking about over 20 swarms that we have sprayed. We still have more. And more are coming."

The locusts eat the fodder for animals, a crucial source of livelihood for families who now worry how they will pay for expenses like school fees, he said.A changing climate has contributed to "exceptional" breeding conditions, said Nairobi-based climate scientist Abubakr Salih Babiker.

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