Locusts have wreaked havoc in Kenya, Eritrea, Tanzania and Uganda. Now they have gone to one of the world’s most vulnerable nations- South Sudan.

The South Sudan government announced the invasion of over 2,000 locusts into the country. The South Sudanese Minister of Agriculture Onyoti Adigo announced that the locusts had crossed from Uganda on Monday.

“The report came that these are matured. As you know locusts are like human beings, they send their reconnaissance ahead of time [to establish] whether there is food or not and if the area is good for breeding.”

Meshack Malo, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in South Sudan, warned that the locusts could cause have a devastating impact in Sudan if not controlled quickly

“These are deep yellow which means that they will be here mostly looking at areas in which they will lay eggs.”

He said the FAO was training locals and acquiring sprayers and chemicals to try and combat the locusts. It is the first locust invasion in 70 years in the country.

.”We are training people who will be involved in spraying and also we need chemicals for spraying and also sprayers. You will also need cars to move while spraying and then later if it becomes worse, we will need aircraft.”