Unusual weather conditions, exacerbated by climate change, have created a favourable environment for the growth of locust populations, which are destroying crops throughout East Africa and the Somali Peninsula.
Warming seas are causing more rain, and cyclones that carry swarms over long distances are getting stronger and more frequent. Flocks are capable of covering up to 130 km per day and can contain from 40 to 80 million individuals per 1 sq. km.
Check out Sputnik's gallery to see worst locust plague in 70 years.
A swarm of desert locusts fly near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 31 January 2021.
A man tries to chase away a swarm of desert locusts away from a farm, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 1 February 2021.
A locust sits on a man's shirt as desert locusts are harvested near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 3 February 2021.
Desert locusts fly past a dik-dik antelope near the town of Nanyuki, Kenya, 31 January 2021.
Desert locusts rest on tree branches near the town of Nanyuki, Kenya, 31 January 2021.
A chicken feeds on crushed desert locusts after they were left out to dry, before the locusts are made into animal feed, at a farm near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 3 February 2021.
Desert locusts caught during a harvest are stored inside a sack near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 1 February 2021.
A man riding a motorcycle drives through a swarm of desert locusts near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 1 February 2021.
Philip Ouma, a laboratory manager, holds a dish containing ground desert locusts at the laboratory Spectralab, in Nairobi, Kenya, 16 February 2021.
A child tries to chase away a swarm of desert locusts in Naiperere, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 30 January 2021.
Desert locusts fly near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 1 February 2021.
A man harvests desert locusts, near the town of Rumuruti, Kenya, 1 February 2021.
