The National
Generations have passed since East Africans have seen a plague of desert locusts comparable to the one that has been ravaging their crops over the last month. One of the swarms – there are several – is said to be the size of Moscow, consuming its own weight in crops every day. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, a UN agency, estimates the number of insects invading Kenya alone to be around 200 billion, covering an area of 2,400 square kilometres. Their origin remains the subject of much perplexity for local authorities – they hatched in Yemen, or maybe Oman, or perhaps even the Indian subcontinent. READ MORE