The simultaneous COVID-19 outbreak, Cyclone Amphan, and locust attack present novel and monumental challenges to the disaster response systems in South Asia. Migrating locusts, however, do not pose a threat to this region alone. In fact, locust swarms have impacted Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and East Africa the most, threatening food security in an already vulnerable and now pandemic-struck society. Unlike with the virus, however, containment efforts cannot centre around border closures. Locusts move across arbitrarily drawn borders, and thus necessitate cross-border response management.
Several countries in Asia and Africa are acutely vulnerable to the crop-eating swarms of desert locusts. Thirty countries across the region–covering 16 million square kilometres–are susceptible to attacks by desert locusts. Their swarms spread over 10 to 500 square kilometres and travel over 100 kilometres per day. A small portion of an average pack, comprising of approximately one tonne of locusts, can consume the same amount of food as 2,500 people each day. In addition to the damage to crops, they also breed rapidly. If left unchecked, each locust lays 60-90 eggs during their 90-day life cycles. Provided with ideal breeding conditions, the population of these pests can grow 20 times every three months. Hence, they pose a severe threat–and can cause unimaginable damage–to food security in affected areas.
While the threat of locust swarms is an annual occurrence in East Africa, MENA, and South Asia, the current influx is unique, owing to three unprecedented factors. First, the packs appeared in traditionally locust-free areas. For instance, in India, locusts were spotted in Jaipur, 600 kilometres from the India-Pakistan border, where the swarms are generally expected. In fact, they have been spotted in inner districts of Gujarat, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, which are usually immune to locust attacks, as well. Consequently, unlike in previous years, when the impact was limited to the desert districts that have sparse vegetation, this year, they entered the more fertile regions of these states and caused severe damage to crops and cattle fodder.
Second, they previously only attacked crops that were closer to the ground, making it easier to treat with insecticides. This attack, however, requires tractors and fire brigades to target locusts that are now infecting taller trees.
Last, the influx of swarms occurred earlier than usual. While, generally, locusts swarms reach India between June and July, this year, they arrived in April. This is a result of the unexpected rains seen due to the unusually high number of cyclones in the Indian Ocean this year. In fact, between March 1 and May 11, India received 25% more rain than usual. As rainy regions are ideal breeding grounds for locusts, the predicted number of locusts this year is 16,000 times more than last year. All these factors are challenging the locust response systems of countries that are already spread thin from responding to the coronavirus pandemic.
Experts and donors argue that, during this period, when resources are diverted, and to prevent another such situation in the future, there is a dire need to develop a collaborative and coordinated international system to tackle locust swarms. Presently, the body responsible for this is the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which is a special branch of the United Nations that aims to achieve food security across the globe. One of its most essential functions of this organisation is the collection of data from the affected regions across the world and communicating this data to national technical experts. Additionally, the FAO promotes international collaboration and dialogue to facilitate regional responses to locust threats. Furthermore, most financial aid from European and North American countries to assist regional authorities in battling attacks by locust swarms come through the FAO. While the benefits of these functions are undeniable, the organization has fallen short in successfully containing the current ongoing locust crisis.
The FAO has significant limitations, which prevent it from effectively tackling the growing locust problem. For example, its mandate does not require it to coordinate local response measures between countries; as a result, the FAO is entirely disassociated from on-ground operations. Its functioning is limited to promoting dialogue between countries and providing them with the neccessary information to tackle the issue themselves. This forces countries to take up the burden of collaborating cross-border response systems themselves. However, this is often wishful thinking, due to the multiple cross-border conflicts and tensions that are present in Africa and Asia.
For instance, efforts to combat the ongoing locust crisis in South Asia has been beset by growing tensions between neighbouring India and Pakistan. The two countries have an existing mechanism for locust control. Admittedly, this cross-border coordination has endured, even through decades of disputes and animosity. Every year, the two countries conduct six border meetings between June and November. In fact, in response to the latest locust threat, India and Pakistan, along with Iran and Afghanistan, have conducted nine meetings through Skype since April. Consequently, Iran readily acknowledged India’s plan to combat the issue and accepted its offer to provide ‘malathion’, which is a high-intensity insecticide used to kill locusts. However, the same offer, which was also extended to Pakistan, has been ignored by Prime Minister, Imran Khan. Due to the worsening diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan, caused by the increased militant activity and anti-insurgency efforts in Kashmir, any coordinated response between the two countries is almost impossible.
In fact, Pakistan is likely to respond to India’s aid for the locust issue with the same hostility it showed to India’s SAARC COVID-19 fund. The reluctance of Pakistan to contribute to India’s proposed coronavirus plan was evident from the fact that, unlike all other countries at the conference, Pakistan was not represented by the head of the state, Imran Khan, but rather by his special assistant. Further, the representative also brought up the volatile issue of Kashmir during the video conference, further signalling Pakistan’s disinterest in engaging in multilateral efforts with India. While all other attendees immediately pledged to India’s proposal, Pakistan contributed $3 million only weeks after the conference. If Pakistan is similarly hesitant to receive or provide assistance during the locust crisis, it could cause significant obstacles in the entire region’s ability to fight the ongoing crisis.
Another major issue with the FAO model is its inability to provide the sort of expedited emergency responses that such an unprecedented and unexpected attack would require. Therefore, it fails to provide the urgent attention that would be necessary to prevent the pests from migrating and breeding. Hence, any locust issue lies in the hands of the local authorities.
While most countries’ emergency locust swarm response systems are still intact, political disturbances can affect their efficacy. The regions that are most susceptible to locusts–East Africa, the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia–are also prone to internal conflicts, which can, therefore, hamper the functioning of local locust response systems. Moreover, the nature of breeding and migration of locusts is such that negligence by a single country can lead to a cascading effect across borders. For instance, the political situation in Yemen, which has caused a grave humanitarian crisis, resulted in its locust control activities being neglected. This paved the way for the swarm of locusts to breed unencumbered, and migrate into Asia.
The FAO’s failure to adopt emergency measures, along with its inability to contribute to field operations, has severely undermined its efforts to unite the countries’ responses. This has, in turn, led to its failure in preventing or containing the influx of locust swarms. These failures have compounded an already ominous situation that is only poised to worsen, given the impending monsoon season. The FAO predicts the arrival of locusts to South Asia from East Africa in June, adding to existing local populations in the region. Experts predict another locust upsurge approaching East Africa too. These second waves will be exponentially worse than what we are currently facing.
The United Nations predicts that the upcoming crisis will be 20 times worse as a surge in cyclones in the region has provided the locusts with the ideal conditions to breed. With no reduction in cyclones predicted in the upcoming years, the issue is evidently one which attracts a long-term response such as the significant restructuring of the FAO to make it more effective. However, due to most international funding and media attention being targeted towards COVID-19 responses, these changes are unlikely to surface soon.
Image Source: Undark
The Locust Crisis Brings To Light Another Failed Arm of the UN
May 28, 2020
