Locusts Invasion in Mwingi, Kitui County in Kenya

Locusts Invasion in Mwingi, Kitui County in Kenya. Being the worst locusts invasion in 70 years, the locusts are threatening food security putting farmers at a risk of facing hunger.

The great climatic variability experienced last year- severe droughts and floods created favourable breeding conditions that fuelled the outbreak and the spread of the desert locust around the East and Horn of Africa.

Although locust upsurges and plagues have occurred throughout history, scientists say the latest swarms in the East and Horn of Africa have been heightened by the effects of the recent extreme positive Indian Ocean Dipole. This resulted in warmer than normal sea temperatures in the west of the Indian Ocean which in turn led to some of the heaviest rains in decades. There is evidence that positive phases of the IOD may become more frequent with ongoing climate change.