Leaving aside the Desert Locust developments which have occurred between October 2019 and January 2020, the current situation in Kenya, southern, eastern and southwestern Ethiopia and Somalia still remains alarming to our region.
Even though intensive ground and aerial control operations are progressing in many locations in Kenya and Ethiopia on immature swarms and hopper bands, the first generation of hoppers which hatched in these countries by mid-to-end of February 2020 have currently reached maturity and have started copulating and laying eggs. Consequently, it is expected that if these emerging second generation of immature swarms will develop and start flying out from the current breeding locations. As a result of seasonal wind directions and the start of the rain season in the north, it is forecasted that by June and July 2020, many immature swarms will start migrating to north reaching the highlands and western lowlands of Eritrea and summer breeding areas of Sudan.
