Ethiopia beefs up measures to fight new locust invasion

The Ethiopian government is stepping up measures to control new swarms of desert locusts that are currently eating away crops in different regions. Officials have deployed helicopters that continuously spray insecticides on the billions of locusts that have descended on East Africa over the past few weeks.

The US Agency for International Development said the pests have been honing in on pastures across the regions, threatening the country with widespread hunger as its food security lies on the brink. According to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, five of the Horn of Africa's nine regions are heavily infested.

Using three helicopters leased from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, the helicopters arrived during the first week of May with the possibility of leasing three more to scale up their pest control operation.

"Unless we manage these swarms where they are, they will scatter to different areas and continue damaging livelihoods," Agriculture Minister Oumer Hussein told reporters on Sunday.

Prior to the choppers, the government was then using five single-engine turboprop planes to control the situation in remote and inaccessible areas. The country also used two drones to survey areas and have so far treated 57,000 hectares since September, Bloomberg reports.

According to agriculture official Mohamed Abaqoda, the swarm has forced more than 15,000 people out of their homes in the Wachile region this month alone. The government has been appealing for help from local and international organisations as more swarms are expected to form in Northeast Ethiopia and have the potential to move towards the eastern regions which are highly productive agricultural highlands. The UN FAO warned officials that the infestation is expected to continue until March next year.

The locusts, which at the moment are immature wingless insects, get around by hopping and feeding on every green leaf and flood lakes. Once they mature and grow wings, the desert locust can fly up to 12 miles per hour and cover up to 93 miles per day and create a more serious situation. A swarm can consist of about 40 million to 80 million locusts and have the potential to destroy crops that can sufficiently feed 2,500 people for a year.

The pandemic has made efforts to fight the infestation even more complicated as deliveries of pesticides and personal protective equipment have faced delays in recent weeks.