Somalia hit by the worst locust plague in decades

food supplies in Somalia and Ethiopia are threatened by locusts. In some places, people are starting to eat them. Somalia is beset by the worst locust invasio

Somalia hit by the worst locust plague in decades

food supplies in Somalia and Ethiopia are threatened by locusts. In some places, people are starting to eat them.

Somalia is beset by the worst locust invasion in more than 25 years. It gets to somali farmers to ask their own government and the international community for help to combat the plague.

- the Locusts have already devoured our pasture, so now we are fighting for, at least, to save our farm where we have planted watermelon and beans. We can not protect them, tell Jamad Mohamed, a farmer near the town of Dhusamareb, the news agency Reuters.

the Insects have so far destroyed the 70,000 acres of agricultural land in Somalia and neighbouring Ethiopia.

This is the availability of food supplies in the two countries threatened, warned the UN Food and Agriculture organisation, the FAO, the earlier in the week.

the Situation is far worse than first thought, writes the FAO in a press release, and it has been exacerbated by a storm that has hit the region.

- If we do not intervene, will the crickets probably spread to important areas of crops in southern Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and northeastern Kenya, writes the FAO.

another somali farmer in Dhusamareb region tells, that he already lost all his crops.

- the Crickets have eaten the whole area and now come to our yard to eat our plants, says the farmer, Jirow Qorhere.

- Now it's over, we have no more food left to give to our children, and we do not have the opportunity to buy from the market, he says to Reuters.

Other places that are invaded by the huge the great, has begun to capture the insects and eat them.

Images on social media and tv shows somalis, who cook and eat the crickets, that supposedly tastes good, writes the news agency dpa.

/ritzau/

Date Of Update: 21 December 2019, 18:00
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