Pastor calls for prayer as terrifying 100,000-acre swarm of locusts enters Uganda
A local pastor called for prayer as he reported, on 6 April, the arrival of a vast swarm of young desert locusts, estimated to cover an area of 100,000 acres (40,500 hectares), in north-eastern Uganda.
The upsurge that was predicted to arrive late April or May has already become a reality in early April. The immature locusts migrated in a dense swarm from Kenya, crossing the border at Karita sub-county, spreading to settle in the Karamoja region, Nakapiripirit district.
“Please continue in prayer for the Christians in Karamoja,” asked a pastor in the region as he told Barnabas that the fresh invasion comes at the “worst possible time”, when farmers in the region are planting new crops in the hope of a much-needed harvest in a few months’ time. The ravenous insects are already destroying recently planted staple crops including maize, beans, millet and sorghum.
