Somalia’s Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement that the desert locust surge poses a major threat to Somalia's fragile food security situation.

According the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this is the worst locust outbreak in 25 years in East Africa, as millions of desert locusts swept through Eastern African countries at a speed of up to 130 km/h, destroying crops and endangering airspace security wherever they went.

At least 700 hectares of crops have been destroyed, seriously threatening food security of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya, which are experiencing poor crops due to natural disasters. Somalia is the first Eastern African country to declare the national emergency over the infestation.