http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/86171050-af1f-11e1-a8a7-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fworld_mideast%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct#axzz1x0yBhL5d

Desert locusts have the capacity to destroy vast areas of croplands. During a plague, a swarm can stretch for several hundred square kilometres comprising billions of locusts, each capable of eating its own weight in food a day.

Desert locust swarms formed in Libya and Algeria in mid-May, after good rains and the resultant growth of vegetation on which they feed. The first swarms have already been sighted in northern Niger, which is currently experiencing a food crisis.

Small farmers are especially vulnerable since their entire crop can be wiped out.