According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, (FAO) increasing number of second-generation immature swarms continue to form in northwest Kenya. The bulk of swarm formation is likely to occur during the next two weeks followed by a decline in July.
Before migration, swarms will remain for a short time during which there is a considerable threat to crops and pastures in Turkana and Marsabit counties. Thereafter, the swarms are expected to migrate northwards to the summer breeding areas in Sudan and Ethiopia where they will mature quickly and lay eggs. Some of the swarms will take about a week to cross South Sudan to reach South Kordofan and South Darfur while other swarms will move north to east and northern Ethiopia. Any swarms in northern Somalia can migrate across the Indian Ocean to the summer breeding areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border.
In Sudan, some rains have fallen so far in South Darfur and South Kordofan, and no locusts are present except for isolated adults in the Nile Valley. If the rains are not sufficient, then the invading swarms are likely to continue to eastern Chad and migrate westwards across the Sahel of West Africa. This threat should decline progressively during the next four weeks.
In Ethiopia, control operations continue against hopper bands and new swarms that are forming in the east and northeast. Smaller operations are underway in central and northern Somalia.
Menu
