Swarm of locusts in Kenya, May 21, 2020 (BBC)
Starting in late 2019 and then escalating throughout 2020, devastating locust plagues occurred around the world – affecting the continents of Africa, South America, and Asia. The appearance of desert locusts – viewed as the world’s most devastating insect – occurred at the worst possible time, as the world struggled with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dramatic locust outbreaks often follow dry, hot weather that causes individuals to gather in areas of remaining vegetation. When rains then occur, these groups of locusts produce rapidly, with outbreaks reaching the size of cities. A desert locust outbreak can contain 40 to 80 million locusts in just half a square mile. They can be 460 square miles across and can consume 423 million pounds of plants each day. A swarm the size of the city of Paris can consume – in a day – as much food as half the population of France. Locust travel great distances, regularly crossing the Red Sea. In 1954 one swarm reached Great Britain from northwest Africa and in 1988 another swarm reached the Caribbean from West Africa (National Geographic).
After an initial outbreak in the fall of 2019, in 2020 locusts swarmed in dozens of countries and headlines included repeated references to ‘Biblical plagues.’ These locust plagues of Africa and Asia included the countries of Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, Madagascar, India, Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, Oman and Saudi Arabia (Njagi). The start of the escalating locust outbreak can be traced to intense October rains in East Africa in 2019. Locust breeding multiplied, with the first swarms arriving in Kenya in December 2019. Djibouti, Eritrea, Uganda, and Tanzania were soon affected (Stone).
In January 2020, Kenya listed the locust outbreak as the worst in 70 years with 70,000 hectares of land infested, as locusts crossed into the country from Somalia and Ethiopia – where they were seen as the worst infestation in 25 years. In Kenya, it was reported that one swarm measured 60 km (37.28 miles) long by 40 km (24.85 miles) wide (Associated Press).
“The locust upsurge affecting East Africa is a graphic and shocking reminder of this region’s vulnerability. This is a scourge of biblical proportions. Yet as ancient as this scourge is, its scale today is unprecedented in modern times”
2020 Joint Statement (World Food Programme):
QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Mark Lowcock, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator
David Beasley, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)
In February 2020 it was reported that a swarm covered 2,400 sq km in northern Kenya and was stated as possibly being the largest ever recorded in that country (Njagi). A second – and worse – wave of locusts hit east Africa in April of 2020, with swarms forming in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Somalia (Okiror).
In May 2020, locust plagues were in India, Iran and Pakistan. In India and Pakistan, the infestation was described as the worst in 30 years (DW News).
Also in May in South America, Paraguay experienced a locust outbreak that crossed into Argentina. This was followed by a second swarm in July. Although causing concern in Brazil and Uruguay, these outbreaks remained confined to Paraguay and Argentina (BBC News).
As of July 2020, the World Bank listed the crisis as affecting 23 countries – 9 in East Africa, 11 in North Africa & the Middle East, and 3 in South Asia. (Factsheet).
The fight against the locust plague centered predominantly on deploying massive amounts of pesticides across the regions – with varying degrees of success. In Iran for example, the density of the locust cloud was such that a 10-to-15-centimeter layer of dead locusts formed on the ground after the spraying of pesticide (Glinski).
Regardless, the impact of the 2019 to 2020 locust plague is significant; estimates for just the East Africa region place locust damage at $8.5 billion. The outbreak in Ethiopia alone caused the loss of 356,286 metric tons of cereal, 1973,163 hectares of cropland, and 1,350,00 hectares of pastureland. This is in a region of 24 million people that were already facing food insecurity (Factsheet).
Video: India and Pakistan face worst locust plague in 30 years DW News 5/29/2020
An account of the Horn of Africa infestation from 2019 to 2022 can be found here. In March of 2022 the desert locust outbreak was finally considered to be at an end.
Locust swarm in East Africa, 6/26/2020 (WEFORUM)
As with drought, God illustrates in the Bible that He will use locusts as part of judgements and signs.
In Exodus, God gave us the famous account of how He used locusts as the eighth plague against Egypt. When approaching the promised land, Moses returned to locusts as he issued a stern warning to the Children of Israel. He said that “if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you” (Deuteronomy 28:15). Moses then reminded them that the list of judgements of God includes locusts: “You shall carry much seed out to the field but gather little in, for the locust shall consume it” (Deuteronomy 28:38).
In time, due to sin, the northern Kingdom of Israel would be destroyed, and the southern Kingdom of Judah would be carried away into captivity in Babylon. And the prophet Amos would bring this word from God: “I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me” (Amos 4:9).
Since the fall of 2019, we have witnessed the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, the appearance of locust swarms in countries around the world, and a crippling global drought. We have seen all the judgements referenced in 2 Chronicles:
2 Chronicles 7:13: When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,
And as time passed, it seemed almost a surety that the intersection of all these events would lead to an unavoidable and terrible outcome—a catastrophic worldwide famine.
Next – Chapter 12: The Coming Famine
