East Africa locust swarms gather as coronavirus curbs delay pesticides

FILE PHOTO: A plane conducting the aerial spraying of pesticides, flies over a swarm of desert locusts in Lemasulani village, Samburu County, Kenya January 17, 2020. REUTERS/Njeri Mwangi

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Coronavirus-linked flight restrictions are hampering efforts to wipe out locust swarms on the verge of devastating crops in eastern Africa, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

The curbs have delayed deliveries of pesticides and, at the current rate of spraying, stocks in Kenya will run out within four days, Cyril Ferrand, FAO's head of resilience for Eastern Africa, told Reuters on Thursday.