SUDAN. Abuleila, Nuba Mountains, Sudan. January, 2024.
Nubian children out hunting for locusts near the village of Abuleila.

The East and Horn of Africa region is currently facing one of the worst infestations of desert locusts - whose destructive impact is likely to cause large-scale crop damage and worsen food insecurity in countries already affected by recurrent drought, conflict and high food prices. Desert locust swarms first invaded the Horn of Africa at the end of June 2019 when spring-bred swarms arrived from Yemen in northeast Ethiopia and northern Somalia. Unusually favourable weather conditions have allowed desert locusts to continue to breed and spread, despite control operations.