• A boy holds a bunch of roasted locusts after catching them at a farm in the central province of Dhamar, Yemen. EPA
    A boy holds a bunch of roasted locusts after catching them at a farm in the central province of Dhamar, Yemen. EPA
  • Children walk around a large amount of roasted locusts.
    Children walk around a large amount of roasted locusts.
  • Massive swarms of desert locusts have spread throughout Yemen.
    Massive swarms of desert locusts have spread throughout Yemen.
  • Traditionally, many Yemenis roast locusts and eat them amid food shortages in the war-torn country.
    Traditionally, many Yemenis roast locusts and eat them amid food shortages in the war-torn country.
  • Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.
    Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.
  • Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.
    Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.
  • Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.
    Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.
  • Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.
    Swarms of desert locusts fly around a farm.

Massive locust swarm provides a desert bounty in central Yemen - in pictures

Yemenis traditionally roast the insects, which have formed in huge swarms across the region

The National

June 25, 2019

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  • Arabic

They have blighted the skies and damaged crops as far north as Jordan this year, but to some they are desert bounty.

Yemenis have been cashing in on a bumper surge in locusts. Traditionally roasted, the insects can be a vital summer staple in times of food shortages.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation warned of outbreaks of Red Sea locusts in February. And rains from cyclones Mekunu in May and Luban last October triggered a mass breeding of locusts near the Yemen-Oman border in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter.

In January, Abu Dhabi's Al Dhafra area was covered in a cloud of the flying insects.

Yemen