Countries of the northern Sahel region are preparing to deal with more locust swarms in the next few weeks, having barely survived a plague of biblical proportions last year.
The hoppers are breeding in north-east Algeria, southern Senegal and Guinea, and are moving eastwards. Some of the insects have already been sighted in Sierra Leone and they are also reportedly breeding in Ethiopia.
“We have received reports from the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture that locust swarms … are devastating farmlands covered with millet, sorghum as well as pasture land in Tigray and the Amhara regions,” said Peter Odiyo, head of the Desert Locust Control Organisation of East Africa.
From there the swarms are moving north and eastwards.
They are threatening Sudan’s western region of Darfur where 200 000 people have died and two million people have been displaced by fighting between rebels and government militia in the past two years.
Countries of the threatened region — Niger, Senegal, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso — are ill-prepared to fight another infestation. They are still battling to overcome the effects of last year’s plague, which was the worst in 15 years.
Exacerbating this is a drought that is gripping the region.
Last July swarms that were several miles long blocked out the sun.
Scientists are unable to fully understand and control this phenomenon.
Of the 3,5-million hectares infected last year, only 2,3-million hectares have been properly sprayed to prevent a recurrence this year.
Livestock prices in the region have plunged as farmers are selling animals to buy food and people are eating the seeds they should be planting for the October harvest.
Disputes are flaring up between farmers, migrants and nomads over what remains of the crops and for grazing land for their cattle, sheep and goats.
The United Nations Consolidated Appeals Process has raised its estimate of need for the region by $38-million to $190-million.
It is hoping to perform as well as the Asian tsunami appeal for $900-million, which has been 95% subscribed.
But donor response has been disappointing to date. Fund raisers and NGOs are focusing on Niger where 3,6-million people are on the brink of starvation and 150 000 children face severe malnutrition.
Paul O’Brien, overseas director of Concern, an aid organisation, says this is only the initial phase of the response.
“People in Niger face massive food shortages over the coming months as much of last year’s harvest was destroyed because of drought and a plague of locusts.
“People lost both grain and fodder for their animals. Household stocks are now depleted and many people have resorted to eating wild leaves and berries. Malnutrition rates, particularly among children, are extremely high — in some villages, one in four children are malnourished,” he said.
Niger is a vast desert country and with a population of 11,5-million. It is the second-poorest country in the world, according to the UN.
One-third of the population face food shortages and the crisis is exacerbated by the fact that Niger, a land-locked country, cannot rely on imports from neighbouring countries as they too face food deficits.