A Swarming Pandemic: Locusts Plague East Africa

By Ryan Mathew

With all of the panic and chaos that is caused by the appearance of COVID-19 in the world, a huge problem is occurring in Africa that has largely gone unreported by mass media. This new problem is the enormous swarms of locusts that are ravaging East Africa, killing crops and harming people alike.

While locusts swarms are not unheard of, the scale of this attack is quite terrifying this time around. East Africa is being depleted of its resources and there is no simple answer or cure to rid the world of these problems. Hundreds of billions of locusts have appeared, making this event the worst infestation in over a quarter of a century. These insects are capable of eating their own body weight in food every single day; couple this with their extremely high mating cycle and these locusts are projected to only increase in the coming months. The newest estimated report shows that by June the number of locusts could increase four hundred fold.

           

Stopping this plague of infestation is no easy feat; this problem goes beyond searching for a single miraculous medicine or reducing harmful human interactions. The main solution to this problem is pesticides. Spraying the crops in the infested lands and waiting is one of the only ways to protect against the locusts. But with a swarm of this size this solution seems unlikely. On top of whatever crops the locusts do not eat the pesticides will harm, the land becomes infertile and the food becomes harder to grow.

This pandemic is truly biblical in proportion and seems to have no end. Locusts love moist sandy locations and East Africa is the perfect breeding bed for them to continue. However, a new solution has come to light that may be of benefit; while animals such as chickens are used to eating up to 70 locusts a day, ducks can eat up to three times as much. Ducks also travel in groups and are much easier to control than chickens, while this new solution may seem absurd at first glance, these ducks are the perfect predator against the swarms. Already China is projected to send over 100,000 ducks to aid in the relief effort. But while Africa waits for help to come the swarms only get more lethal.

The economic toll is also at a breaking point. BBC news reports “In January, the UN appealed for $76m (£59m) to tackle the crisis. That figure has now risen to $138m.” (Hundreds of billions). The budget for the crisis is also in crisis due to the spread of COVID-19 and the overwhelming need for it to be taken care of. East Africa does not have the resources necessary to combat this problem and the spread of COVID-19. The countries in this region are not as economically stable to control such a terrible situation and must rely on the help of the UN. But with the UN preoccupied, there seems to be a harsh outlook on this locust situation.

  

Bibliography

“Hundreds of Billions of Locusts Swarm in East Africa.” BBC News, BBC, 10 Mar. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-51618188.

Weitering, Hanneke. “Locust Swarms Are Invading Africa. Here's How NASA Satellites Can Help Stop Them.” Space.com, Space, 1 Apr. 2020, www.space.com/nasa-satellites-fight-locust-swarms-in-africa.html.