Swarms of desert locusts spread through farmlands right before harvest season in the region, consuming everything they met.

Such swarms - potentially containing hundreds of millions of individual Desert Locusts -- can move 150 kilometers a day, devastating rural livelihoods in their relentless drive to eat and reproduce. A Desert Locust devours its own weight in food per day - about two grams, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Launching a large control operation, the organization has had some success in addressing the situation.

The United Nations reported that over 600,000 hectares had been contained against the locust infestation.

ILKHA