Experts are sounding the alarm over the continued emergence of transboundary pests that pose a serious threat to the region’s fragile food security.
Transboundary pests such as desert locusts, quelea birds, African armyworms and red palm weevil compromise agricultural productivity.
Moses Mwesigwa, director of the Desert Locust Control Organisation in Eastern Africa, said the region remains at high risk of locust invasions and other migratory pests due to climate change.
“This requires increased vigilance in preparedness and monitoring by member countries to inform early warning actions,” Mr Mwesigwa said.
He was speaking on Friday at a high-level meeting on mitigating food insecurity through transboundary pest control in the Horn of Africa.
He said climate change continues to impact the breeding and spread of migratory pests in the region, calling for immediate and sustained action by IGAD member countries and regional bodies such as the Eastern Africa Locust Control Organisation.
“Therefore, it is imperative to improve the capacity of early warning and preparedness systems of member countries to address the challenges posed by migratory pests, as well as regional bodies mandated to respond to pest outbreaks and attacks (DLCO-EA), as well as those charged with coordination and policy,” Mwesigwa said.
“DLCO-EA remains committed to fulfilling its mandate in the region, namely aerial surveillance and control of migratory pests, applied research on migratory pests, pesticide use and safety, pest forecasting and information sharing, and capacity building of member countries.”
The member states of IGAD are Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda. IGAD covers an area of ​​5.2 million square kilometers and serves 261.2 million people.
In 2019 and 2020, Kenya was one of the countries most severely affected by the desert locust upsurge.
Swarms of desert locusts have invaded the country for the first time in 70 years, mainly affecting the northern region.
The swarms arrived in the country from Ethiopia and Somalia on December 28, 2019, before spreading to 28 counties.
Authorities were immediately mobilised as these swarms posed a risk to food security and were undermining economic growth.
With FAO support, Kenya was able to protect the livelihoods of pastoralists, preventing the loss of 11,338 hectares of crops worth $3.4 million. But in 2020, another generation began to form swarms.
Somalia’s Minister of State for Agriculture, Asad Abdirazak, said his country, as a frontline state, fully recognizes the need for stronger collaboration and coordination to limit the ability of transboundary pests to breed and spread in the region, causing severe economic damage by destroying crops, pastures, forests and vegetation.
“Desert locusts and other transboundary pests are common threats that can only be controlled through a common approach. This is why the establishment of the IGAD Inter-Regional Platform for the Sustainable Management of Desert Locusts and Other Transboundary Pests and the Memorandum of Understanding between Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia are of paramount importance,” Mr. Abdirazak said.
