Insecurity hindering fight against locust in Africa - FAO expert

LOCUSTS  ENVIRONMENT   

KAMPALA - The insecurity in the Horn of Africa and Yemen is hindering the fight against locusts, the Food and Agriculture Organisation representative in Uganda, Antonio Querido, has said.

In an exclusive interview with New Vision, Querido said insurgencies in the region could not allow any efforts to access breeding grounds for locusts, where it would be easy to deal with the dangerous insects conclusively.

Desert locusts, according to Querido, breed from northern Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, the larky mountains of Ethiopia and parts of Sudan.

"This particular situation started in the Arabic Peninsular. Also, they have a huge breeding ground in Yemen. They went almost undisturbed because of the security issues and they also moved to the Horn of Africa in areas of Somalia, where we have some insecurities," Querido said.

"So, the control has not been effective because of insecurity and this has allowed them to really gain in numbers because they go undisturbed for such a long time and they really get to proportions that we have seen."

He added: "The insecurity in the region has played a great role. Because when you have insecurity, then the control becomes affected. So this is an insect that you really need to assess on the breeding ground.

"So if you are prevented from accessing it, then you are setting yourself up for this problem. So in the long run, yes, peace and security is essential for the control of this insect, but also vital for development."

Querido said: "This is an insect with a vast breeding ground. As you know it is a desert locust and prefers to lay its eggs in the sand but it really has vast breeding ground within the horn of Africa."

Migration

The FAO expert warned that this type of desert locusts normally changes their behaviour at some point in their lifespan, adding that they always change the colour.

"The time of migration is determined by the wind but also by the resource they find on the ground," he said.

He said the locusts have the potential to cover all the way from Uganda to West Africa, "all this semi-arid area of the continent is an ideal condition for them and they create other dynamics".

"In March, when the wind shifts, they will move up towards South Sudan and again re-infest Ethiopia. They have an on-going cycle that is quite impressive," Querindo said.

"The ecology of these insects is interesting from a scientific perspective. So it requires very good organization from our side."

Control measures

The easiest way to control locusts is ‘hitting' the breeding ground before they develop, Querido said.

"Of course the breeding grounds tend to be areas that are remote, on the desert. Sometimes they can disappear for months and reappear. If you don't have a system of monitoring and controlling them, you cannot fight them," the envoy said.

"That is why in 1962, the founding fathers of the local organisation realised that the only way of dealing with them was having a regional base. But over time, this has weakened the institution and to a certain extent the breeding grounds went uncontrolled for quite some time and they evolved into a situation that we are seeing now," he said.

Future plans

Querindo said the future plan is to support the governments responding to the situation as well as planning for sustainable livelihood for the affected people.

"There is a huge devastation when it comes to the vegetation and to the crop because a swam of 1sqkm can in one day consume as much food as 35,000 people would consume," Querido said.

He added: "Our plan is to also see how we support the livestock. The strategy is to respond but also care for the people."

The envoy also said there is an on-going effort in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya to spray the breeding grounds.

Spraying

"The approach is the use of chemicals, but we are promoting the use of bio-chemical pesticides to ensure that we live less environmental impact. We are also using the growth regulators - chemicals that prevent them from growing to adulthood."