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Young desert locusts that have not yet developed wings leap into the air as they approach, as a visiting delegation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) observes in the desert near Garowe , in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, Somalia. February 5, 2020.
FILE – Young lobsters that have not yet developed wings leap into the air when approached, as observed by a visiting delegation from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in the desert near Garowe in the Puntland region in Somalia.
Somali officials say they have deployed helicopters to spray new swarms of desert locusts that eat crops and threaten the country’s fragile food supply.
In an interview with VOA, Somali Agriculture Minister Said Hussein Iid said “Canadian contracted experts will engage with the swarms by spraying bio-organic pesticides from the air, using three helicopters.”
Iid said the spraying, which began Thursday, is funded by the United States Agency for International Development.
Experts have said the desert locust invasion that started last year is the worst East Africa has seen in at least 25 years. Neighboring Ethiopia also started spraying locust-infested areas this week.
“Before we were doing manual spraying and using vehicle-mounted machines, we realized that this is not enough to combat the plague and prevent the devastation of our pastures and farmland,” said Iid.
This aerial spraying will target areas in the central Somali region of Galmudug, Puntland in the northeast and the self-declared republic of Somaliland, the minister said.
Conflict limits efforts
But, security experts say, due to conflict and chaos in much of Somalia, there are limits to spraying pesticides by plane.
“We know that there are areas where the militant al-Shabab group controls, where ground coordination is impossible. I think this shows the limitation of government power when it comes to fulfilling its mandate and responsibilities, “said Hussein Moalim Mohamud, a former Somali national security adviser.
Both Somali officials and international aid agencies have been warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in Somalia due to the combination of COVID-19, floods and locusts that threaten the livestock and food of millions of Somalis.
Earlier this year, after extreme rains that created favorable breeding conditions, swarms of locusts from the Arabian Peninsula desert began to ravage East African countries.
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In February, the pests traveled to Somalia and were seen flying over land used to graze animals in a remote part of Somalia, forcing the country to declare a national emergency.
Somalia’s agriculture minister says the pests have been laying eggs, which means the swarms could grow and spread further.
“We were presented with the threat, a country in the East African region, since December last year, but our particular fear has been the damage it can cause if the situation is not controlled” before the crops of this country can be harvested. year, said the minister.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), desert locusts can travel up to 150 km in one day. Each adult insect can eat its own weight in food daily.
Abdulkadir Mursal contributed to this story.
