The coronavirus outbreak is undermining efforts to combat the impact of locust swarms and flooding in east Africa, church organisations have warned.
The UN has termed the expansion of locust swarms in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya “extremely alarming”, as the number of insects in the region has continued to increase. Locusts present a serious threat to food supplies and agriculture in the region.
The fast moving insects can reach up to 90 miles an hour. Even a relatively small locust swarm – covering less than a third of a square mile – can eat the same amount of food in a day as 35,000 people.
The current outbreak, which some experts have termed the worst in 70 years, began in February this year, and has affected millions of people across seven countries.
Catholic Charities and Church officials have raised the alarm about the threat posed by the locust “invasion”, with the President of the US Catholic charity Catholic Relief Services, Sean Callahan, declaring that the coronavirus “pandemic is a crisis on top of a crisis in parts of Africa, Latin America and Asia,”. Callahan added that “The severe health risks are only part of the coronavirus outbreak” with the disruption caused by lockdown measures hampering efforts to mitigate the impact of the locust swarms.
Another crisis facing east African nations is a spate of local floods, brought on by unusually high levels of rainfall for this time of year. In Kenya, the floods have killed 194 people so far, according to official figures, and dozens have died in Rwanda and Somalia. In Uganda, at least 200 people have been trapped inside a hospital by rapidly rising water levels.
The indirect impact of the flooding could prove to be even deadlier, as agricultural machinery and stores have been washed away by the floods across the region. According to BBC reports, heavy rainfall will continue throughout the next month, which could well lead to further flooding. Combined with the locust swarms, and the current spike in world food prices, overflowing rivers and lakes present a significant threat to the food security of millions of people across East Africa.
The ongoing crises in East Africa follow on from warnings by Catholic organisations last month that developing nations worldwide face a food security crisis brought on by lockdown measures.
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