The COVID-19 pandemic is bad enough, but what if nature stacks another catastrophe on top of it?

The other plague: Locusts are devastating East Africa

A fourth generation of locust eggs is now hatching, which experts predict will create a locust population 8,000 times larger than the current infestation. This coincides with the start of harvest season, and will be compounded by the COVID-19 emergency. Pasture for livestock is also in jeopardy….

This the worst outbreak in 70 years. Without expedited preventative measures, swarms will migrate from East Africa to West Africa. “This is the worst locust invasion we have seen in our generation,” says Sahal Farah of Docol, an IRC partner organization. “It destroyed pastures, contaminated water sources and [has] displaced many pastoral households. The worst of all is that we do not have the capacity to control it, and so far we have not received any external support.”

This is a doomsday scenario with the potential to kill millions of people.