The New Humanitarian welcomes new CEO Ebele Okobi.

Find out more
  1. Home
  2. Africa
  3. East Africa

Urgent action needed to stop locust invasion in eastern Africa

‘Swarms are increasing in numbers and density as we speak – they could increase 500 times in numbers by June.’

Desert Locusts mate on a bush @FAO/Sven Torfinn / FAO
Desert locusts mate on a bush in northeastern Kenya. The desert locust is considered to be the most dangerous of all migratory pest species in the world due to its ability to reproduce rapidly, migrate long distances, and devastate crops.

A donor conference in Rome next week will be asked to pledge $70 million to tackle a plague of desert locusts critically threatening rural livelihoods in a region where tens of millions of people already face extreme hunger.

Swarms of the insects are sweeping across eastern Ethiopia, neighbouring areas of Somalia, and are pouring into Kenya, destroying crops, pasture, and forest cover throughout the region on an unprecedented scale.

"This has become a situation of international dimensions that threatens the food security of the entire subregion,” said UN Food and Agriculture Organisation Director-General Qu Dongyu, whose agency is convening the 30 January meeting in Rome.

"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," he said.

Unusually heavy rains late last year favoured breeding, triggering a locust outbreak that is the worst Ethiopia and Somalia have faced in 25 years – and the most extreme Kenya has experienced for 70 years.

Swarms – capable of travelling 150 kilometres a day – are heading through Kenya and may spread into South Sudan and Uganda. Even Rwanda in central Africa is beginning to take precautions.

“Swarms are increasing in numbers and density as we speak – they could increase 500 times in numbers by June,” Daniele Donati, co-chair of FAO’s desert locust task force, told The New Humanitarian.

As locusts mature into their so-called “gregarious” phase, they become voracious eaters, stripping whatever vegetation they find, and able to consume their body weight in a day. A single small swarm can contain 150 million insects.

One super-swarm in northeast Kenya was estimated at 2,400 square kilometres, with the potential capacity to eat in a day the same quantity of vegetation that could feed as many as 84 million people.

“We must act now,” UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said in a statement on Wednesday, announcing the release of $10 million from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund to support the FAO.

The allocation will fund a “massive scale-up in aerial operations to manage the outbreak,” the statement said, referring to the deployment of pesticide-spraying planes that can wipe out the swarms.

 A Desert Locust swarm flies over a bush in Samburu County, Ololokwe, Kenya. A Desert Locust adult can consume roughly its own weight in fresh food per day that is about two grams every day.
@FAO/Sven Torfinn / FAO
A Desert Locust swarm flies over a bush in Samburu County, Ololokwe, Kenya. The Desert Locust is considered to be the mo

Coordination needed

Six planes can cover 1,000 square kilometres in a month, which “would be adequate for the time-being”, noted Donati.

But, at the moment, Ethiopia and Kenya only have four spray planes each, and the insecurity in Somalia means any form of control measures are risky.

“The region is not prepared for this scale of infestation,” Jasper Mwesigwa, a food security analyst with the regional Climate Predictions and Application Centre, told TNH. “No single country has the capacity to manage this on their own – so many resources are required.”

A critical issue is coordination. Swarms don’t obey national boundaries, and agreements would need to be struck to manage the region’s airspace and allow spray planes to cross borders.

And while there are sufficient supplies of pesticides, there will need to be cooperation so stocks can be shared and deployed to where the need is greatest.

“It’s in the region’s interests to coordinate the response,” said Donati. “Otherwise, the consequence is an ineffective response.”

Lasting consequences

The Horn and East Africa has been hard hit by drought and, late last year, flooding. Locusts are yet another burden that will make recovery among already struggling rural communities all the harder.

In some parts of Ethiopia there have been 100 percent crop losses. In others, farmers knew the locusts were on their way and harvested too early, before their crops had matured. Locusts are currently moving towards the Rift Valley, the country’s breadbasket.

“We will feel the consequences of this for several seasons,” FAO Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa David Phiri told TNH. “But the longer [locust] control doesn’t happen, the greater the losses.”

Rains due in March through to May will see a surge in locust numbers as vegetation thickens and damp soils allow egg-laying. It will be the critical time to check the outbreak – otherwise this will become a multi-year crisis, according to Phiri.

In June, dry weather in much of the region will act as a natural break, but it will be wet in parts of Ethiopia and Somalia, allowing locust swarms to regenerate.

With large areas of the country out of bounds to the government and aid agencies because of insurgency, Somalia provides the locust with a particular window of opportunity.

“For Kenya, the worry is the lack of control at source,” said Mwesigwa. “The locust invasion is coming through parts of Somalia and the Somali region of Ethiopia.”

If the donors agree at the Rome meeting to the $70 million ask for the region’s control efforts it will be welcome, but it’s still “very conservative”, said Phiri. “We hope we can get that and more.”

Here’s a country by country snapshot:

A map showing locust infestation, spread and threat in South Sudan, Ethopia, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia.
A map showing locust infestation, spread and threat in South Sudan, Ethopia, Uganda, Kenya and Somalia.

Ethiopia

More than 2,350 square kilometres of crops, pasture, and forest cover has been affected in Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Tigray, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' regions. Fast-moving swarms keep arriving from undetected areas in Ethiopia as well as adjacent areas of Somalia.

Despite aerial and ground control operations, breeding grounds in the Somali region remain uncontrolled, resulting in “cyclic multiplication and formation of new swarms”, FAO says. Heavy rainfall and green vegetation will allow breeding conditions to remain favourable until June.

Somalia

Tens of thousands of hectares of land have been affected in Somaliland, Puntland, and Galmudug, and there are mature swarms in the Garbahare area, near the Kenyan border.

Immature swarms (not yet able to reproduce) have migrated south to Hirshabelle, Jubaland, and South West states.

The risk to both pasture and crops in 2020 “remains high and critical given the ever-expanding areas affected,” FAO warns. Given the favourable ecological conditions, the desert locust population is expected to continue to grow in the north and migrate south. Over the next six months, more than 100,000 hectares will require some form of direct control.

Kenya

Large immature swarms are spreading from the northeast south to Wajir and Garissa, west along the Ethiopian border, and southwest into central areas north of Mount Kenya. At risk are areas of the Rift Valley and Turkana county. Swarms are expected to move west along the Ethiopian border, and some could head south to Tana River county.

A man walks among a locust swarm in Kenya.
@FAO/Sven Torfinn / FAO
A man walks among a locust swarm in Kenya. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Monday that the desert locust swarms, that already reached Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, could spill over into more countries in East Africa des

Some swarms in the north have moved back into southern Ethiopia, while others are now mature and laying eggs that are expected to hatch in a fortnight. This will result in ground-based hopper bands – the stage before swarms form – in February and March.

South Sudan

There is a high risk of “a few swarms” arriving in the southeast (Kapoeta East and Ilemi Triangle) from northwest Kenya, according to FAO.

Uganda

A “moderate risk” of a few swarms appearing in the northeast from northwest Kenya.

oa/ag

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join