Locusts join larvae on EU’s list of approved food
Brussels, BelgiumReuters Locusts were added to the European Union’s list of approved food on Friday as part of the bloc’s push towards more sustainable farming and diets. It was the second time Brussels had said an insect was safe for humans to eat after the dried yellow mealworm larvae of beetle tenebrio molitor was authorised […]
Pests on the march as climate change fans the spread of crop destroyers
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Ravenous pests are on the march to colder regions as climate change lures crop eaters to new territories, threatening jobs and exacerbating world hunger, the United Nations said on Wednesday. From fall armyworms to desert locusts, the pests mostly menace crops in hot countries but the rise in world temperatures was […]
Wow!: Farmers fight back – Making animal feed from a locust plague
BAZ RATNER, of Reuters, reports on hopes to turn locust into profits in Kenya…
Returning locusts in East Africa threaten food security, church leaders warn
In 2020, huge swarms of Biblical proportions struck the region, destroying food crops and animal pastures, and pushed hunger and economic hardship to new levels. And as though that is not enough, the United Nations warned in January, 2021, that a new invasion has started spreading in East Africa. “We are concerned about their impact […]
Fresh wave of crop-ravaging locust swarms threaten East African herders, farmers
Nairobi/Garowe, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation A new generation of locust swarms is threatening to wipe out the livelihoods of farmers and herders across eastern Africa – deepening a food crisis in a region where 35 million people are already hungry, the United Nations warned on Wednesday. From January to August, massive desert locust swarms swept across […]
Chemical signal for locust swarming identified in step toward curbing plagues
Washington DC, USReuters Scientists have identified a chemical compound released by locusts that causes them to swarm, opening the door to possible new ways to prevent these insects from devouring crops vital to human sustenance as they have for millennia. Researchers said on Wednesday they identified the pheromone – a chemical produced by an animal […]
Postcards: No jobs, few crops – coronavirus and pests leave Nepal fearing hunger
AADESH SUBEDI, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports from Nepal on how the twin threats of coronavirus pandemic and crop pests have raised fears of hunger for many…
Hit by coronavirus and wild weather, Italy now battles locusts
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation Swarms of locusts have stripped thousands of hectares of pasture and cropland in Sardinia, devastating farmers already struggling from the coronavirus pandemic, farming groups said. Their numbers fuelled by rising temperatures, the pests have damaged nearly 15,000 hectares of grazing land in the central province of Nuoro, said Michele Arbau, of […]
Food security: Pakistan readies for second battle against crop-devouring locusts
ZOFEEN T EBRAHIM, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on the threat locusts may again pose to Pakistan’s food production…
Somalia races to save livelihoods as new locust generation spawns
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Somalia is deploying surveillance teams and specialised vehicles to prevent desert locust swarms ravaging crops and pastures, and destroying the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, United Nations and government officials said on Monday. The worst outbreak in a generation has seen hungry swarms – some the size of cities […]