Skip to main content

Desert Locust Bulletin 506 (3 December 2020) [EN/AR]

Countries
Ethiopia
+ 22 more
Sources
FAO
Publication date
Origin
View original

Intense swarm invasion of Kenya likely from mid-December onwards

Substantial breeding caused large numbers of hopper bands to develop within a vast area of eastern Ethiopia and central Somalia during November. Numerous immature swarms will start to form in early December and increase until January. This will cause increasing waves of immature swarms to invade northeast Kenya from mid-December onwards and spread to other counties. Intensive survey and control operations should be maintained in Ethiopia and Somalia while extreme vigilance and preparedness are required in Kenya. Breeding is likely in northern Somalia where heavy rains fell from cyclone Gati and mature swarms are present. Unusually strong winds carried a few older swarms from central Somalia to eastern Kenya and northeast Tanzania. In the Central Region, immature swarms migrated from Yemen to Kuwait and southwest Iran. Swarms moved from eastern Sudan to the Red Sea coast, and immature swarms arrived on the Saudi Arabia coast. Breeding will cause locust numbers to increase along both sides of the Red Sea. In the Western Region, locusts formed groups in western Mauritania, northern Niger, and southern Algeria and limited control was done.