The worst plague to hit Madagascar since the 1950s is threatening to destroy crops and create food shortages.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says the swarm of locusts could cover 2/3 of the nation by September. A cyclone damaged the efforts of the Locust Control Centre in Madagascar to control the locust population.

Annie Monard, FAO locust control expert, says the plague could post a long lasting threat.

“If nothing is done it can last for five to 10 years depending on the conditions,” Monard told the BBC.

“Nearly 60% of the island’s more than 22 million people could be threatened by a significant worsening of hunger in a country that already had extremely high rates of food insecurity and malnutrition,” states the FAO report.

An estimated 85% of the population of Madagascar lives on less than a dollar a day.