TIG Post

Tag: locust

  • Somalia faces new desert locust invasion

    Somalia is facing a fresh desert locust invasion, the latest in a string of invasions in the last year.

    This comes as United Nations agencies warn that the east African nation is one of 16 states that are “at high risk of rising levels of acute hunger”.

    East Africa is bracing for a third outbreak of desert locusts, with billions of the destructive insects about to hatch and threaten food supplies in a region already reeling from damaging rains and the coronavirus pandemic.

    Spurred by favourable weather conditions, the migratory pests have descended on East Africa in record numbers since late 2019 and another wave is about to take to the skies despite the concerted use of pesticides.

    “Tens of thousands of hectares of cropland and pasture have already been damaged across the Horn and East Africa,” the International Rescue Committee said in a report this month, noting even a small swarm could devour the same amount of food in a day as approximately 35,000 people.

    In Ethiopia between January and April, locusts destroyed 1.3 million hectares of grazing land and nearly 200,000 hectares of crops, resulting in the loss of 350,000 tonnes of cereals, IGAD, the East Africa regional organisation, said in a June report.

    A new report by two United Nations agencies warned Friday of a heightened risk of famine in three conflict-torn African states and Yemen, and a high hunger risk in 16 more.

    Some 260,000 people died in a 2011 famine in Somalia.

    Source: africanews.com

  • FAO warns of possible locust invasion in Ghana

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nation is warning of a possible invasion of desert locust in the northern part of Ghana.

    According to the Organisation, this could affect agriculture season yields which could lead to food insecurity and impact the livelihoods of citizens in the country.

    Speaking on Joy News Today, Head of the Pests, Crop and Disease Division of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ebenezer Aboagye, indicated that with the early warning the Ministry has instigated processes to procure insecticides to deal with the pests when they reach Ghana.

    Read: Farmers schooled on fall armyworm infestation

    “The best thing to use to control them is the insecticide, so processes are ongoing, it is almost complete so assuming instead of worms we have an invasion of these locusts, we can quickly divert and use the insecticide to wipe them out,” he said.

    He added that an alert has been issued to all regional and district directors and Prime Protection Officers to be on the lookout of these food devouring pests.

    “Now we are doing some surveillance throughout the country, so our staff are going round to see whether they are can identify the swamps.

    “The farmers will also be involved so that when they go to their farms and they see any group of grasshoppers there, they should quickly alert the staff to move in there,” he stated.

    Mr Aboagye further added that, with the pests having a speed of 150km/h (93miles) with the wind, they could be closer to the country within three-four days but assured the populace that systems have been put in place to control the insect when they invade the country.

    East Africa has been hit by the worst invasion of desert locusts in 25 years, the UN’s FAO has revealed.

    Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are all struggling with “unprecedented” and “devastating” swarms of the food-devouring insects.

    This has caused the UN to call for international to help fight the huge swarms of desert locusts sweeping through the eastern part of the continent.

    A spokesman for the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), called for aid to “avert any threats to food security, livelihoods, malnutrition.”

     

    Source: myjoyonline 

  • Swarms of locusts threaten food security in Kenya – Govt

    Large swarms of desert locusts are spreading through Kenya, after wreaking havoc in Somalia and Ethiopia, posing a significant threat to food security, the agriculture minister said Friday.

    The locusts — part of the grasshopper family — have led to what the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has termed the “worst situation in 25 years” in the Horn of Africa.

    Swarms formed in eastern Ethiopia and northern Somalia and have moved through the region, possibly still threatening South Sudan and Uganda.

    Kenyan Agriculture Minister Mwangi Kiunjuri told a press conference that the swarms had crossed the border from Somalia on December 28, and had now spread to northern Mandera and Marsabit, eastern Wajir and Garissa, as well as central Isiolo and Samburu.

    Read:Changing tides as men lead war against female circumcision in Kenya

    “We recognise that the pest invasion and potential to spread rapidly to other counties pose (an) unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods in the country,” said Kiunjuri.

    Desperate measures have seen police deployed to shoot in the air and spray teargas at the critters, while residents clap their hands, whistle and bang bottles and cans together to try chase away the thick clouds of locusts, according to images obtained by AFP.

    However Kiunjuri said the government had obtained pesticides and two aircraft to spray affected areas, and hopes to soon have a third.

    The FAO estimated that there was low risk of breeding in Kenya, however said a “potentially threatening situation” was developing on both sides of the Red Sea, with growing populations on the coasts of Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

    Read:Somalis fight locust invasion by eating them

    The United Nations agricultural organisation in December said some 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) of land had been infested in Ethiopia and Somalia.

    “Insecurity and a lack of national capacity have so far not allowed control operations in Somalia,” the FAO said in a statement this week.

    Desert locusts — whose destructive infestations cause major crop damage and hunger — are a species of grasshopper that live largely solitary lives until a combination of conditions promote breeding and lead them to form massive swarms.

    According to the FAO, swarms can travel up to 130km (80 miles) per day — a kilometre-wide (half-mile-wide) swarm can contain up to 80 million locusts.

    Source: France24