East Africa locust swarms gather as coronavirus curbs delay pesticides

Residents of Tenges ward in Baringo Central chase away a swarm of locusts.

Coronavirus-linked flight restrictions are hampering efforts to wipe out locust swarms on the verge of devastating crops in eastern Africa, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), has warned.

The curbs have delayed deliveries of pesticides and, at the current rate of spraying, stocks in Kenya will run out within four days, Cyril Ferrand, FAO’s head of resilience for Eastern Africa, told Reuters on Thursday.