According to recent studies in agronomy, conventional insecticides caused harm to regional bird and honeybee populations during a recent locust outbreak in the Horn of Africa. But Somalia chose a remedy that can control swarms while safeguarding human health and wildlife. The findings point to a strategy for locust management that is sustainable.
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Desert Locust is “the most destructive migratory pest in the world.” Their mobile swarms threaten food security and agricultural producers’ lives because they can eat as much food as 35,000 humans daily.
The World Bank reports that the current locust infestation in Ethiopia and Somalia was the worst in 25 years, and the most recent epidemic in Kenya was the worst in more than 70 years. The authors claim that “the massive invasions of [the Desert Locust] overwhelmed existing control capabilities in these nations.”
Ethiopia and Kenya responded by using insecticides classed as organophosphates and pyrethroids when swarms increased. Even while these control agents can effectively eliminate locusts at a large scale quickly, upsurges in Western Africa in the past have demonstrated that re-invasion is feasible within a few weeks.
Other names for these substances are soil contaminants and groundwater pollutants. The authors point out that there was only sporadic monitoring of the environmental effects of insecticide use during the current locust invasion. However, they say it’s safe to believe that there were “negative environmental side effects” that “were widespread but remained largely unreported.”
According to the paper, spraying these pesticides caused “thousands” of birds to die and tens of thousands to be displaced. According to Injibara University research, Ethiopia, one of the top ten countries in the world for natural honey production, had a fall of up to 75% in honey output. This decline is brought on by inside treatment-related honeybee fatalities, shorter dy bee lifespans, and delayed development.
Alexander Müller, founder and managing director of TMG – Think Tank for Sustainability, said, “The fight with highly toxic pesticides against the devastating outbreak of desert locust in 2019 to 2022 created very high costs for people and the environment.” Müller, a co-author of the paper, writes, “The honey producers will lose an estimated $500 million in revenue. The loss of environmental services (pollination) has an actual cost 15 times higher initially! The question then becomes how much biodiversity, particularly insect diversity, has been lost due to this action.
The bio-insecticide Metarhizium acridum, on the other hand, was part of Somalia’s effective response to the locust swarms. Hives crumbled within a few days of treatment, and “more importantly,” the locusts lost their hunger, according to the author. Unlike organophosphates, which have not been thoroughly studied, M. acridum “protects the environment and human health,” according to the researchers. However, the article suggests adding a second intervention—predator birds—to the reaction to make treating M. acridum even more efficient.
For the fight against locusts and other pests and diseases to be more effective and less hazardous for people and the environment, Müller tells Food Tank, “We need an innovative early warning system and better early action.” “[The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] has forewarned us that climate change will make such outbreaks more frequent and will change the spread of the risks.”
The paper’s suggested strategy can control locusts if appropriately used, and the scientists write, “before they develop to threaten crops, pastures, and ultimately livelihoods.”
