Locust Swarms Worsen as African Countries Focus on Coronavirus
By: Julian Mok
Outbreak of desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) in southwestern Morocco in November 2004. Photo credit: Magnus Ullman
Lexington — Coronavirus has heightened emergency in regions already reeling under an unprecedented desert locust infestation. With some swarms spanning three times the size of New York City, countries from Iran to Kenya are battling to save millions of human lives threatened by both the virus and pest outbreak.
Efforts to stop the locust outbreak have been severely hindered by COVID-19, causing experts to predict that the locust swarms will get 400 times bigger during 2020.
The East African region has been battling desert locusts (Schistocera gergaria) since December with little progress on stopping the spread. In just 24 hours, a small swarm of just 500,000 locusts can consume enough food to feed 2,500 people.
Pastoralists lose their livestock to the destructive pests who devour any type of vegetation in its sight – cattle are left to starve because there is nothing left to graze. Agriculture accounts for one-third of the region’s GDP. Now, the 25 million people who live in that region are battling an invisible foe, COVID-19. There has been 61 recorded cases in the East African region with a death toll of 47.
The most effective course of action in battling desert locusts has been aerial application of pesticides. In February, Kenya had five planes spraying pesticides and four conducting surveillance – Ethiopia had 6000 acres of land treated by aerial application. This has become more difficult as COVID-19 has disrupted supply lines and raised shipping costs.
Fewer flights are operating and those that are operating must go through additional operational steps to ensure the health and safety of their workers. The cost to ship pesticides is now three times as expensive as it was before the COVID-19 outbreak. Countries like Rwanda and Kenya have suspended international flights, rendering it nearly impossible to import the pesticides necessary for locust control.
Coronavirus is also predicted to deal a significant blow to economies in East Africa that had been considered some of the fastest growing on the continent prior to the viral outbreak. Many of the countries in this region are heavily reliant on bilateral trade with China, where China imports many raw materials from the African continent.
NKC African Economics’ Senior Financial Economist Irmgard Erasmus said that, “the blow to the regional economy dealt by the agricultural sector and food security will be worsened by short-term disruptions within the manufacturing, tourism, and construction sectors.” Travel hubs like Nairobi, Kenya and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will likely experience further downward pressure on their capacities as the pandemic rages on.
Governments in the East African region have taken measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 before it overwhelms their fragile healthcare systems.
In Rwanda, all flights have been banned, markets closed, and citizens are working from home. Uganda and Rwanda both plan to close their borders. Zambia has closed its parliament and all schools, while Kenya (a deeply Christian country) has suspended all church meetings. As the fight against both plagues rage on, experts are predicting that warmer and drier conditions will bring a stop to both the spread of COVID-19 and desert locusts. For now, however, citizens are fighting for their lives.