Swarms of Locusts Prepare to Attack Again

2004-12-10

The locust invasion that devastated crops in Western and Northern African countries this year is far from over. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warns that such outbreaks generally last for several seasons and could cause greater crop damage for Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia in 2005.

(AP - 19/10/04 - 18/11/04; Inter Press - 01/10/04; FAO - 25/11/04; NPR - 16/11/04)

Locusts in North Africa devour nearly everything in their path. [AFP]

So far in 2004, locusts have devoured half of Mauritania's crops and destroyed two million hectares of crops in Algeria. Even countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, rarely visited by the desert pests, saw huge swarms sweep through.

The invasion of the yellow-winged insects is the worst in more than a decade. Locusts are normally present every year in Africa, albeit in smaller numbers. However, prolonged periods of heavy rainfall in 2004 created ideal breeding conditions that allowed them to multiply rapidly and concentrate in dense swarms that can range up to 80 million insects per square kilometre. According to the FAO, swarms can number in the billions and travel 200 kilometres per day.

Said Ghaout, director of Morocco's National Locust Control Centre, said a new generation of locusts is currently breeding in Mauritania and northern Niger. Ghaout said swarms will move in January to the Maghareb, where they will breed in March or April before moving south again in June.

FAO officials said that a focus on prevention efforts over the next few months will be critical for Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Western Libya.

Measures to control locusts are already in place, but may be insufficient. Morocco will spend about $50m in 2004-2005, a 20 per cent increase over last year, to combat the insects. The FAO said it currently has only half of the $100m necessary to address the problem in its budget.

Methods of combating locusts include spraying with pesticides from planes. But aerial treatments are only between 80 and 85 per cent effective, stated FAO official Carl Castleton in a recent interview on US National Public Radio. "We’re using products that basically are effective against pests for a matter of hours, and that means your targeting has to be very precise," Castleton said. "I think that much of the spraying will have, at best, minimum impact upon the desert locust population."

Current technology does not guarantee that all locusts will be killed, according to Castleton. Many of them will escape to breeding grounds in North Africa, from where they will return to countries south of the Saharan desert.

A more integrated approach to combating locusts needs to be adopted to reduce the effects of the outbreak. Carleton points out new environmentally safe pesticides exist, though a lack of funds prohibited farmers from testing them in the past.