It was the first time that 12-year-old Anisa Ali had ever seen desert locust swarms of this magnitude as they flew in over her neighbourhood. She  had accompanied her father, Ali Jaaro, to their fields to protect crops from the insects.

Their community in Kemise Wereda had been fending off locusts since June 2019 but in small numbers. They have been sure to inform the local administration each time they encountered the insects, but the colossal swarms of locusts that flew in last month needed no introduction.

"We couldn't see the sun anymore," said Ali, who grows corn on his fields. "It was as if the sky had suddenly gone grey with clouds."

Ali and his neighbours did everything they could to fight off the locusts. They cracked whips woven from braided tree fibres to scare them away with noise. They burned tyres and anything else they could spare as the locust is known to detest smoke. When that failed, and the pests managed to land on their corn, they tried shaking the stalks.

But they were heavily outnumbered.

"Can you count the raindrops from the sky?" said Ali. "That's what we were up against."

At one point, his daughter had run away yelling, and the family paused their efforts momentarily to take her home before returning to the fields.

"She'd never seen them in this number," said Ali.

She was witnessing her father's farm getting destroyed. It was difficult for her. Within three days, Ali's farm, along with neighbouring farms, had been licked clean by the locusts.

The 12-year-old Anisa and her family certainly were not the only ones to see locust plagues of this magnitude. The problem of locust infestation is happening across five regional states and one administrative city in the country.

In fact, the problem goes far beyond the country and across borders into Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan and Kenya. An invasion of this magnitude has not been seen here in over 25 years, according to data from the Desert Locust Control Organisation for Eastern Africa (DLCO-EA). In neighbouring Kenya, the figure is 75 years.

The Organisation, with the mandate to operate in nine East African countries, has been working on pest management in the region since 1962. The four pests it covers primarily are the African armyworm, tsetse fly, desert locust and the quelea bird. The latter is a notorious avian pest that, not unlike the locust, moves in groups of massive size numbering up to 100,000 in a single flock. But unlike the desert locust, the selective quelea do not feed on corn or sunflowers.

The organisation is working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to respond to the call. With funds coming from member countries, it has deployed one aircraft to assist in control efforts.

"We're working in Dire Dawa and Jigjiga," said Stephen W. Njoka, director at the Organisation. "We'll be moving on once this situation is under control."

In September, the Organisation treated over 57,000ha with pesticides using a combination of aerial and ground control teams. But the vegetation and wet soil due to continued rains created the perfect ground for further breeding.

"Pesticides through an aerial application is the most effective method," said Stephen. "We've requested more support to purchase effective aircraft."

The origin of the current crisis goes back to the Arabian Peninsula nearly two years ago, according to reports from FAO.

Cyclones bringing along heavy rains enabled these locusts to proliferate. Undetected and away from prying eyes, three generations of locust breeding took place. Their numbers grew 8,000-fold according to the FAO. The locusts then made their way to the Horn of Africa and Southeast Asia.

When they first started appearing in Ethiopia in June 2019, local farmers had some success in shooing them away. But as the months progressed, so did the intensity of the invasions.

Hussien Ibrahim, a farmer living in Kemise, administrative centre of the Oromia Zone in Amhara Regional State, has lost two hectares of millet and sesame after his efforts to shake off the pests proved futile.

"We were in the fields every day trying to shake them off our crops," said the father of four. "But finally, even the aeroplanes couldn't fight them off."

The crops began falling with the weight of the locusts on them, and the farmers were even afraid for their personal safety.

"They fly into your eyes when you try and shoot them away," he said. "We had to close our homes, so they wouldn't get into where we live."

Registration of community members in Kemise is taking place to assess the level of impact in the area. The main reason is to keep farmers in their homes to avoid displacement, according to Hussien.

Hussein was a mere month away from harvesting his crop when this happened. But he does not seem defeated despite having to start all over again.

"If we get irrigated water, we'll continue to sow seeds for the coming season," he said.

His region borders Afar Regional State, where 28 of the 34 weredashave been impacted.

The FAO, the main aid institution behind the containment efforts, has allocated two planes out of the four total operating aircraft solely for use in this region. Funding is secured for the aircraft until the end of this year along with around 40 vehicles and various spraying equipment. Its Desert Locust Upsurge Response Plan has killed an estimated 515 billion desert locusts across the 10 countries it operates in.