Another deadly threat confronts the world

A desert locust

The world, which is alleged to be on the brink of another world war due to rising global tension, is suddenly faced with another threat that might just push it over that brink.

That veritable threat is from desert locusts, swarms of them in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, already unprecedented in their size and destructive potential, and yet could swell exponentially and spill over into more countries in East Africa if efforts to deal with them are not massively scaled up across the region, the Food and Agricultural Organisation has warned gravely.

"This has become a situation of international dimensions that threatens the food security of the entire subregion. FAO is activating fast-track mechanisms that will allow us to move swiftly to support governments in mounting a collective campaign to deal with this crisis," said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.

"Authorities in the region have already jump-started control activities, but in view of the scale and urgency of the threat, additional financial backing from the international donor community is needed so they can access the tools and resources required to get the job done. FAO stands ready to leverage our expertise and facilitate a coordinated regional response," he said.

Recent weather in East Africa has created conditions that favour rapid locust reproduction. Left unchecked, the numbers of crop-devouring insects there could grow 500 times by June.

Such swarms - potentially containing hundreds of millions of individual desert locusts -- can move 150 kilometres a day, devastating rural livelihoods in their relentless drive to eat and reproduce. A desert locust devours its own weight in food per day - about two grams.

Swarms continue to pour into Kenya from Ethiopia and Somalia and are rapidly spreading to the centre of the country.

In Ethiopia, they are moving steadily south towards the Rift Valley, the country's breadbasket.

Ethiopia and Somalia have not seen swarms of this scale in 25 years, while Kenya has not faced a threat of this magnitude in 70 years.

South Sudan and Uganda are not currently affected, but are at risk.

The FAO is providing forecasts, early warning and alerts on the timing, scale and location of invasions and breeding.

The speed of the pest's spread and the size of the infestations are so far beyond the norm that they have stretched the capacities of local and national authorities to the limit.

Given the scale of the current swarms, aerial control is the only effective means to reduce the locust numbers.

"Alongside pest control activities, our response must include efforts to restore people's livelihoods. Communities in Eastern Africa have already been impacted by extended droughts which have eroded their capacities to grow food and make a living. We need to help them get back on their feet once the locusts are gone," Dongyu added.

At this stage and on basis of conservative estimates, FAO seeks $70m to urgently support both pest control and livelihood protection operations in the three most affected countries.

The problem however with the locusts is that they are not in Africa alone.

Southwest Asia and the Red Sea area are also affected.

In India, Iran and Pakistan, numerous swarms have been present since June 2019 and have been breeding. Some of them have migrated to southern Iran where recent heavy rains allowed them to lay eggs that could turn into swarms in spring 2020.

Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen are also seeing substantial breeding activity that could see locust bands expand into swarms in the coming months.

FAO is monitoring all situations closely, and is actively engaging with all countries facing desert locust threats to support their response activities.

God save the world.