{"id":22190,"date":"2025-04-08T13:46:41","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T13:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?p=22190"},"modified":"2025-04-08T13:50:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T13:50:36","slug":"locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Namibia and the Maghreb expect possible locust swarms later in 2025 and are preparing digitally<\/u><\/a> and mechanically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cabinet of Namibia convened in early April 2025 to discuss\u00a0potential outbreaks<\/u><\/a>\u00a0of pests including locusts that echo a 2024 scare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Normal and above-normal rains in strategic farming areas such as the Zambezi have sparked this latest alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, minor cases of locusts pervaded the Zambezi basin and a part of Ohangwena in north-central Namibia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cabinet has already apportioned the north as a potential landing point for locusts after current sightings of armyworms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oshana, a densely populated area of the north-central of the country is presently under armyworm infestation. It is a key source of mahangu<\/em> (pearl millet), a staple for 50% of the national population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, Windhoek\u2019s warning owes to the fact that in 2023, brown locusts devastated the Kalahari-bordering Kharas and Hardap areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Africa\u2019s Spring Swarms <\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region is anticipating, northwest Africa is already recording actual spring breeding of locusts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 4, 2025, the Food And Agriculture Organization<\/u><\/a> (FAO) warned of swarms hopping northward from the southern Sahara near Chad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This March 2025 migration has shifted spring breeding sites to the southern parts of Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morocco has only seen a little of the hoppers in comparison with its neighbors. However, in late March, the government beefed up measures<\/u><\/a> to control migration after locals spotted desert swarms in the southeast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Measures include FAO\u2019s new Locust Pesticide Management System (LPMS), which selectively eliminates the pests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LPMS first gained trials in the 2019-21 outbreak in Eastern Africa to reduce food losses through digital tracking and elimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food security and prices during infestation are always on the line since a 2.5-gram <\/u><\/a>pest consumes leaves equal to its mass daily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, as the alarm rings in parts of Africa on a possible outbreak after the rainfall season, where to next? The statistics below highlight intervention measures over the past few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Locust Measures Statistics in Africa<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The desert locust or\u00a0Schistocerca gregaria<\/em>\u00a0is among the most destructive flying animals in nature. 80 million of these little pests can fit in just 1km2 of land and eat food for\u00a035,000 people<\/u><\/a>\u00a0per day. \u00a0Worse, an outbreak can cut off green leaves that could have fed 81 million people while inflicting untold financial losses. In the horn of Africa, Oman and Yemen, locusts caused an estimated\u00a0$8.5 billion<\/u><\/a>\u00a0in agricultural losses in the 2019-21 outbreak.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which <\/strong>financial <\/strong>measures to combat locusts are there<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While locust effect on agriculture is of great import, measures that governments and world agencies use also count. Below are some highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2013-5 West Africa outbreak<\/em>: West Africa\u2019s governments and international agencies combated the 2003-2005 outbreak by expending $450 million <\/u><\/a>to end the plague. Meanwhile, crop loses were five times the expenditure, at $2.5 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019-21 East Africa outbreak<\/em>: the World Bank responded to the early 2020s plague in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and other countries by approving $500 million as combat fund. Other funds also went to Oman, Yemen, Pakistan and India, whose dry areas also attracted similar swarms during the same timeline. FAO meanwhile responded to the Eastern African crisis by aerial sprays of thousands of kilometers of infested areas. The measure reportedly prevented $1.77 billion<\/u><\/a> in crop and milk losses in the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which technological and mechanical measures are available<\/strong>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAO uses two key technologies to track and combat locusts. These include the accurate predicting tool at Locust Hub<\/u><\/a>. The tool visualizes 1 km2 area portions in a given country to provide such details as soil moisture and other causative factors. There is also the Locust Pesticide Management System (LPS) that launched in 2024. It uses safe chemicals to selectively kill swarms. In 2020, FAO also mechanically sprayed over 2.3 million hectares<\/u><\/a> of infested land in Yemen and East Africa, costing $230 million. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Namibia and the Maghreb expect possible locust swarms later in 2025 and are preparing digitally and mechanically.  The cabinet of Namibia convened in early April 2025 to discuss\u00a0potential outbreaks\u00a0of pests including locusts that echo a 2024 scare. Normal and above-normal rains in strategic farming areas such as the Zambezi have sparked this latest alert. In 2024, minor…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Namibia and the Maghreb expect possible locust swarms later in 2025 and are preparing digitally and mechanically.  The cabinet of Namibia convened in early April 2025 to discuss\u00a0potential outbreaks\u00a0of pests including locusts that echo a 2024 scare. Normal and above-normal rains in strategic farming areas such as the Zambezi have sparked this latest alert. In 2024, minor...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-08T13:46:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-08T13:50:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Garden_locust_Acanthacris_ruficornis.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Timothy Wahome\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/\",\"name\":\"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-08T13:46:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-08T13:50:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News\",\"description\":\"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8\",\"name\":\"Timothy Wahome\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Timothy Wahome\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","og_description":"Namibia and the Maghreb expect possible locust swarms later in 2025 and are preparing digitally and mechanically.  The cabinet of Namibia convened in early April 2025 to discuss\u00a0potential outbreaks\u00a0of pests including locusts that echo a 2024 scare. Normal and above-normal rains in strategic farming areas such as the Zambezi have sparked this latest alert. In 2024, minor...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/","og_site_name":"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","article_published_time":"2025-04-08T13:46:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-08T13:50:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Garden_locust_Acanthacris_ruficornis.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Timothy Wahome","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Timothy Wahome","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/","name":"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa - Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-08T13:46:41+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-08T13:50:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/2025\/04\/08\/locust-alerts-bear-on-northwest-and-southwest-africa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Locust alerts bear on northwest and southwest Africa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/","name":"Selina Wamucii | Food & Agriculture News","description":"Discover the Latest in Food and Agriculture.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c0aad9a1f85037798080d75b4302cf8","name":"Timothy Wahome","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/636da6c8288b7dcaef01a42b50c3bc41?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Timothy Wahome"},"url":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/author\/twt4wahomegmail-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22190"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22195,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22190\/revisions\/22195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.selinawamucii.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}