Major locust threat averted, says FAO

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says food production has been secured following successful intervention this year to control a plague of locusts. "This is encouraging and a good start for the agricultural sector," the senior officer, migratory pests, Clive Elliott, told IRIN from FAO headquarters in Rome on Monday. It was estimated that more than 400,000 ha of rain-fed wheat and a further 190,000 ha of irrigated wheat could have been affected in a country where up to 85 percent of the population is dependent on agriculture. Under the FAO's locust campaign, 123,000 ha of land was cleared. Elliott explained that the process of treating locusts meant that the whole area in danger of infestation would not be covered as the locusts were concentrated in smaller areas before the eggs hatched and swarms spread and destroyed crops. FAO provided spraying equipment, protective clothing and training, together with two international and five national consultants. Its implementing partner, the Irish NGO, GOAL, supported nine provincial coordinators, 11 supervisors and 117 local organisers, who led trained spray teams, each of approximately 10 local people. GOAL also provided transport and logistical support. The spray teams were supported by local communities. A team of technical staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry was seconded from the capital, Kabul, to participate in the campaign. In the 1990s, FAO helped establish community control mechanisms, whereby farmers were trained to monitor where the eggs were laid and to kill the hatchlings as they emerged from the ground by driving them into trenches and burying them. However, this method, known as mechanical control, only works if it is carried out every year and if communities are properly mobilised on a large scale. The FAO campaign against the Moroccan locust, which started last year, was in collaboration with he Afghan agriculture ministry, but has been more successful this year, according to Elliott. "Last year was tricky because of the political situation, and we are better prepared this year," he said. Staff from the agriculture ministry were seconded to work with FAO throughout the entire project, giving them valuable experience. Last year, some 7 percent of wheat was damaged, but the figure this year is expected to be minimal. The worst-affected areas are the northern provinces of Samangan and Baghlan. "This is the wheat-growing breadbasket of northern Afghanistan," said Elliott. Although locusts had been cleaned out completely in some areas, others were too difficult to reach. "We were not able to clear out the locusts in some areas due to various reasons such as unexploded ordnance," he explained. Commenting on next year's harvest Elliot said, "We are expecting a reduction in the locust infestation next year, but we still need a control campaign." FAO is discussing with the agriculture ministry on possible sources of funding for 2004 and on developing a sustainable long-term strategy to prevent future outbreaks. "We need to reconstruct plant-protection capacity and extend this to other pests that destroy crops in Afghanistan," he added.