(ETH) – The massive locusts swarms have reached Jordan, Somalia, and Pakistan with all three countries declaring a National emergency from the severity of the plague. According to reports, the Jordanian Agriculture Ministry has raised its alert from medium to high as part of its measures to control an invasion of locusts. The measure was reportedly taken after it swarms of desert locusts had reached parts of Saudi Arabia – mainly Hail – 500 kilometers from the Saudi-Jordanian border.
Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Shahahdeh ensured that Jordan is “able and ready to confront the locusts with the support of the Royal Air Force, the Royal Badia Forces, and the Jordan Customs Department. Meanwhile, Pakistan was struck by the worst locust swarm in more than two decades, pressuring the country to declare a state of emergency two weeks ago.
The insects have reportedly decimated the cotton, wheat, maize, and other crops in the region. The swarms have also spread from Pakistan to Yemen, then across the Red Sea from Yemen and attacked Eritrea, Djibouti and Ethiopia, according to a report by EcoWatch in late January. Somalia has also declared a national emergency as well from the massive swarm of insects with the country’s Ministry of Agriculture making a statement published by multiple news outlets that the swarms pose “a major threat to Somalia’s fragile food security situation …
Food sources for people and their livestock are at risk.” “Ethiopian farmers have lost their entire crop to the voracious insects. The desert swarms are uncommonly large and consume huge amounts of crops and forage,” the statement said. The situation in South Sudan is being deemed as catastrophic, following a war with drought and floods that have left six million people – 60 percent of the population – struggling with severe hunger and near starvation.
