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A locust infestation has been raging in East Africa for months. Huge swarms of crops destroy crops, the food supply to the population is at risk. But in the face of the crown pandemic, the region threatens to be left alone.
The first warnings came in July 2019. Faced with heavy rains, the World Food Organization feared a surge in the desert grasshopper in East Africa. Ten months later, the second wave of locust plague is spreading to countries like Kenya, Somalia, Eritrea and South Sudan and it destroys a large part of the vegetation in the affected regions. The fields are eaten empty, while the cattle find no more food in the pastures. In June and July, the third wave threatens to coincide with the harvest of the remaining plants.
Even small swarms of a square kilometer destroy a large amount of food per day that could feed 35,000 people. Already earlier in the year, reports reported swarms as large as Saarland. The region faces the worst plague in 25 years: Kenya has not been as dramatic in seven decades.
The Crown crisis It does not facilitate the situation. Because air traffic is limited, some pesticide deliveries must be shipped, meaning the insecticide will only be available later. Exit restrictions could also make pest control secondary. Young animals that could now be effectively controlled could become reproductive grasshoppers. At the same time, governments around the world are grappling with the Covid 19 pandemic. The misery of the people in East Africa could therefore sink.
Lobsters – solitary animals and swarms
Migratory grasshoppers, including the desert grasshopper, are not necessarily a threat to vegetation. By contrast, insects exist in two different forms, each of which is genetically identical, but differs greatly in body structure and behavior. In the so-called single phase, the animals are local. However, if the population exceeds a certain number due to favorable breeding conditions, the animals change. The reason for this is increased serotonin release.
Grasshoppers get darker and bigger in the swarm phase, their metabolism speeds up, and they multiply faster. Animals also begin to flock and migrate. These properties increase with each new generation. The result: the swarms get bigger, consume more food, and therefore continue. A swarm travels up to 150 kilometers per day. The number of grasshoppers is exponential: in three months the population can increase twenty times, in six months the number of grasshoppers is 400 times in favorable conditions, and 8,000 times after nine months.
The affected countries have already been weakened by other crises.
Locusts find countries weakened by armed conflict and natural disasters. The pests that regularly occur in Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula are known and have been successfully counteracted in the past by early intervention. At present However, the civil war is raging and the grasshoppers were able to multiply practically without obstacles. According to Welthungerhilfe, the various schools have already laid their eggs inland. There are currently heavy rains, which leads to optimal propagation conditions for insects.
There are also armed conflicts in some regions of East Africa. In South Sudan, for example, it already existed before a hunger crisis as a result of years of civil war. The region is also affected by extreme weather conditions, such as droughts and heavy rains. The renewed locust plague exacerbates the already precarious situation of the people.
To this is added the crisis of the crown. Many people have lost their income due to the locust infestation or the restrictions of the pandemic. At the same time, food is scarce and prices are rising. So the price of bread in Sudan has doubled. That overwhelms people. Carolin Schmidt of Welthungerhilfe, coordinator of the program in South Sudan, confirms that more than half of the people in the country can no longer eat properly without help.
Matthias Späth, Country Director for Welthungerhilfe in Ethiopia, assumes that the consequences of the crown pandemic, along with the locust infestation, will be felt for at least a year or two and that affected people will need support. The plague could spread to other parts of Africa. If mass containment is not successful in East Africa, the grasshoppers will continue to migrate. Swarms of insects could penetrate into West Africa.
A swarm of locusts invades Kenya: the insects destroy the vegetation and, therefore, the livelihood of the population. (Source: Xinhua / imago images)
Widespread use of pesticides can create new problems
In affected areas of East Africa, governments are now trying to curb the plague through the widespread use of pesticides. Wherever pesticides are available, they are used against air swarms. But not only lobsters die from toxins. Useful insects also die. Furthermore, pesticides enter the soil: when the grasshoppers leave and the soil can be reapplied, the substances migrate to the food chain.
Therefore, Welthungerhilfe is committed to using mechanical methods to combat pesticides. For example, local people are trained to drive lobsters that cannot yet fly in shallow ditches and burn or bury them there. At the same time, the population receives support in the form of food, replacement of lost livestock or seeds.
However, to ensure the survival of those affected, more financial aid is needed. The global community has already responded, providing $ 120 million. Germany also participates with 20 million euros, as Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller explains in an interview with t-online.de.
In the medium and long term, early warning systems should also be established. Reliable financing is also required for this. Since the widespread use of toxins also endangers the health of the population, Welthungerhilfe advocates the research and use of biological insecticides. These can be plant insecticides, for example.
The climate crisis favors grasshopper pests and makes them more unpredictable
Locust infestations in the region occur regularly, favored by the climatic phenomenon “Dipole of the Indian Ocean”. The sea surface of the eastern Indian Ocean is particularly cold, which on the one hand leads to extreme drought in Australia and on the other hand forces the air masses to the west. As it travels through the Arabian Sea, the air absorbs a lot of moisture; if it reaches the African continent, heavy rains occur. Without these, locusts could not reproduce enough to swarm.
The dipole generally occurs every four to six years. But now the meteorological constellation came three times in a row. Climate researchers assume that the climate crisis has a significant impact on ocean currents and phenomena such as the dipole. Therefore, locust pests can not only occur more irregularly, but also more frequently. This means even more uncertainty for the people of East Africa.
