新奇事件簿 东非遭遇70年来最严重蝗灾（在线收听）

The livelihood of farmers and other food growers in East Africa is under attack from locusts. Authorities say swarms of millions of locusts are ravaging large swathes of farmland and vegetation. Millions of people are at risk after the insects destroyed crops in Eritrea, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda. The swarms of locusts are spreading and could affect the agriculture, bushland and forests of neighbouring countries. The United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) report that some swarms have been sighted as far afield as Yemen and Oman in the Gulf. It is the worst locust invasion in 70 years and some say it is reaching Biblical proportions.

东非农民和其他粮食种植者的生计受到了蝗虫的攻击。当局表示，成百万的蝗虫正在摧毁大片农田和植被。在厄立特里亚、肯尼亚、埃塞俄比亚、索马里、南苏丹和乌干达，蝗虫毁坏了农作物，数百万人将处于危险之中。蝗虫群正在蔓延，并可能影响到邻国的农业、丛林和森林。联合国粮食及农业组织 （FAO）报告称甚至在远及也门和阿曼的海湾地区也发现了蝗虫群。这是70年来最为严重的蝗虫入侵，一些人称其程度堪比圣经中的可怕灾难。

The locust invasion is seriously affecting the lives of over 12 million people. Many of these were already experiencing food insecurity due to poor harvests from a lack of rain. The swarms of locusts will only worsen the plight of people living in the region. Locusts are extremely voracious pests. One locust can eat its entire body weight in just 24 hours. A small swarm could chomp its way through enough food to feed 35,000 people in just one day. Esther Kithuka, a farmer in Kenya, expressed her concern about the invasion. She said: "We depend a lot on this season and we worry that the locusts will destroy our harvest and we will end up remaining hungry through the rest of the year [until] next cropping season."

蝗虫入侵严重影响了1200多万人的生活。由于缺乏雨水导致收成不好，其中很多人已经面临着粮食不安全的问题。成群的蝗虫只会使生活在这个地区的人们的困境更加恶化。蝗虫是极其贪婪的害虫。一只蝗虫可以在24小时内吃掉和体重相当的食物。一小群蝗虫可以在一天之内吃掉足够35000人吃的食物。肯尼亚的一位农民Esther Kithuka表达了她对蝗虫入侵的担忧。她说道：“我们在很大程度上依赖于这个季节，我们担心蝗虫会破坏我们的收成，在今年剩下的时间里，我们将一直处于饥饿状态，直到下一个收获季节。”