Threats of Desert Locust to Food Security in Africa

Hello, today I am going to tackle a topic on the threats of desert locust to food security in Africa

Introduction

We first need to understand, what are these insects and what are they prone to do?

Locusts are a threat to human and livestock as it destroys crops meant for food for people and herbivores animals. They are prevalent in most parts of North Africa. Its invasion causes problems such as; food Insecurity, environmental problems and socio-economic disturbances. These problems can be addressed through containment, EMPRES reinforcement and crop protection.

Now let us dive in to understand its effects and how to manage them.

Locust Key Figures and Facts

Locusts have formed plagues since prehistory. What are the facts about it that make awareness important?

Locusts have interesting facts that make it hard to contain due to easy and fast spread, that make it cover a large area within a short time. The North African countries most affected by dessert locusts include; Algeria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Morocco. Interestingly, the insects can fly 150kms per day hence spread easily to other areas (FAO, 2019). One swarm can damage food equivalent to feed 35,000 people per day as they mostly target cereals and carbohydrate products and plants.

Historically, between 1860 and 2003, there has been eight locust invasions, some lasting for about 20 years. Due to these factors, a swarm of locusts is a threat to any countries surrounding an invaded area due to the damages it causes to crops, which extends to have a negative impact on the environment and livelihoods.

As we can see, desert locusts really need to be considered a prehistoric plague.

Factors contributing to high spread of Dessert locusts

As stated above, locusts spread fast and usually travel in a swarm. What leads to this large numbers?

One swarm of locusts may have up to 400,000 locusts stretching to over 400 square miles. This is scary, thinking of the damage that one swarm may cause! This is because desert locusts breed rapidly as the queen lays 300 eggs in the soil every summer and hatches in between 14 to 16 days. Also, heavy rains amplify breeding. The eggs need a moist soil in order to hatch hence wet season encourage breeding. Besides, it has high migratory capacities that enable them transcend international boundaries, from one country to another. A short invasion period which occurs in a relatively brief time, which is within a month, increases the spread.

These factors may be difficult to manage. 300 eggs per queen leads to millions of eggs each summer culminating to millions of locusts.

Nature of the desert locust threat

Just as humans, locusts have natural behaviors that characterize them.

First, the locusts highly breed during high rainfall periods, which occur every year. At this period outbreaks, invasion and upsurges occur in the Saharan countries. Breeding occurs as they migrate due to the many eggs produced by the queen, hence increase in number every minute. As they migrate, they feed on grasses, trees, agricultural crops and plants. Rainfall recession interrupts breeding hence reducing its population for a while but gives the queen locusts time to bred more eggs.

There is a fact we need to consider; Life cycle of Locusts is dependent with the seasons, which is completed in a year. This means that more locusts are produced every year hence management is difficult.

Impact of locust damage

Now, what impact does these insects cause to be called a plague?

Locusts have both socioeconomic and environmental effects. The first environmental effect is destroying of perennial and biennial crops which deteriorates vegetation. Also, it damages total biomass production which decreases organic matter. All these disturbs the ecological balance leading to adverse environmental effects.

In impacting socio-economic activities, locusts lead to abandonment of affected agricultural areas and lands hence reducing production. Unfortunately, human, locusts and animals will need to compete for food as they all feed on crops. Also, local desertification cause loss of rainfall, consequently decreasing soil fertility. These effects affect human activities that lead to decreased economic activities.

Locusts cause total damage! Besides vegetation destruction, their impact extends to affecting economic growth and social activities of humans.

Factors increasing economic impact on locust invasion

What leads to increased breeding and a rise in swarms?

First, augmented Irrigation such as tapping ground water creates a moist environment for breeding of locust eggs (Eriksson, 2008). Secondly, presence of green vegetation through development of agricultural crops during rainy seasons encourage invasion due to availability of food for consumption (Ceccato et al., 2007; Lecoq, 2003).

We can now realize that the factors that increase invasion are the same economic activities required by humans. How can humans manage this plague?

Ways to address Locust challenges

Countries have tried to find ways to manage locust invasion. However, there is still no definite method that works best.

Containment is the first strategy put in place. This is the use of pesticides to spray locust colonies before they gather, breed and spread to agricultural areas (The World Bank, 2010). Secondly, is the EMPRES reinforcement. This method entails prevention without the use of pesticides through emergency prevention system for transboundary animal and plant pest and diseases. Thirdly, is the crop protection method by use of the plague data to forecast the time there may be locust risk and put measures to prevent them, for example through spraying. These methods help to prevent and manage invasion.

Locusts cause tremendous destructions hence more improvement is required in the future.

Thank you

References

Ceccato, P., Cressman, K., Giannini, A., & Trzaska, S. 2007. The desert locust upsurge in West Africa (2003–2005): Information on the desert locust early warning system and the prospects for seasonal climate forecasting. International Journal of Pest Management, 53(1), pp. 7-13

Eriksson, H. 2008. Effects on non-target organisms of insecticides used to control desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. (Licentiate Thesis, Uppsala University of Agricultural Sciences)

FAO. (July 25, 2019). FAO warns of Desert Locust outbreaks in Yemen and the Horn of Africa. Report from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome. FAO. Available at https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/fao-warnsdesert-locust-outbreaks-yemen-and-horn-africa

The World Bank. January 7, 2010. Improved ways to prevent the desert locust in Mauritania and the Sahel. The World Bank. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2010/01/07/improved-ways-to-prevent-the-desert-locustin-mauritania-and-the-sahel.