Locust Swarms in East Africa
In March 2019, Locust Swarms of Biblical proportions descended on the Horn of Africa, devastating agricultural communities. Locusts are a large, flying grasshoppers that swarm and migrate in response to overcrowding. Desert locusts, the type of locusts currently afflicting East African countries, usually live solitarily in arid climates; however, the impacts of climate change in the region (extremes of heat, cyclones, and heavy rains) are creating the ideal conditions for locusts to thrive. Due to these climate changes, locusts are reproducing in unprecendented numbers and forming swarms large enough to cover the entirty of New York City.
Community and International Response
Though responses to the Locust plague vary among the East African countries, the Kenyan response to the plague has seemingly been the most effective. The Kenyan response includes manual and aerial sprays of pesticides followed up by assessments of damage by response teams. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, sending out officials to manually spray and assess damage has halted, but aerial spraying continues. Some have raised concerns about the long term effect of the chemicals on the biodiversity and health of the people in the region, though no other responses have been proposed.
The international community has responded to the plague by sending foreign aid to many East African countries. Kenya received $1.5 mil in grants in April to help pay for damage and response operations. The World Bank also distributed 43 mil in euros to help 70,000 agrarian households and 20,000 farmers in Kenya.
Kenyan farmers are responding to the plague by diversifying their crops. Many are now planting fruits and vegetables, which are more resistant to locust attacks.
It is yet to be seen if these efforts will effectively prevent acute food shortages.
Devastation
Kenya, a country particularly affected by the Locust plague, has not seen an infestation this damaging in 70 years.
When the locusts arrived in 2019, the growing season in Kenya (and other neighboring countries) was nearly over. Now that a new growing season has arrived, Kenyan farmers are on edge. Locusts eat up to their body weight in food everyday (a single swarm may eat enough food to fill 35,000 people). With the number of locusts growing by 20 fold each generation, Kenyan farmers fear that this new generation of locusts will be large enough to clear all the crops in a community at once.
Though the locust infestation threatens the agrarian economies of East African countries, perhaps the most dire threat the locusts pose is on access to food and resources. Food shortages have long afflicted Kenya and many neighboring countries. In order to subsidized the limited food in markets, many Kenyans grow their own crops. Since the locusts arrived, many Kenyans have been struggling to provide extra food (or any food at all) for their families and livestock.
Also, the infestation has disproptionately affected the livelihoods of women and children in Kenya. In most Kenyan communities, women and young children look after the crops while men tend to the livestock. With locust swarms clearing out the crops before the workers can, many women are left with little to do and little to eat. Schools have been distrupted as children are needed at home to chase away any locusts found in the crops.
Works Cited
Baskar, Pranav. "Locusts Are A Plague Of Biblical Scope In 2020. Why? And ... What Are They Exactly?" NPR. Last modified June 14, 2020. Accessed December 14, 2020. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/06/14/876002404/locusts-are-a-plague-of-biblical-scope-in-2020-why-and-what-are-they-exactly.
Lovett, Samuel. "Almost five million people at risk of hunger and famine as swarms of locusts ravage East Africa." The Independent, June 4, 2020. Accessed December 15, 2020. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/locust-invasion-africa-famine-hunger-somalia-kenya-ethiopia-uganda-south-sudan-a9547961.html.
Njagi, David. "The Biblical locust plagues of 2020." BBC Future Planet. Last modified August 6, 2020. Accessed December 14, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200806-the-biblical-east-african-locust-plagues-of-2020.
Taylor, Alan. "Photos: The Locust Swarms of 2020." The Atlantic, July 1, 2020. Accessed December 15, 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/07/photos-locust-swarms-2020/613732/.