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By Chris Tinka
A real-life plague of biblical scale is descending on new locations in East Africa; it has hit Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti, Eritrea, and now Uganda.
Swarming locusts have caused a pandemonium throughout recorded history, wiping out entire crops in only a few days.
Controlling locusts is no easy task for affected countries; the larger the swarms, the more difficult the task.
Locusts are a hard nut to crack there's evidence that warmer temperatures and more intense weather events influenced by climate change are causing locust plagues the world over.
Climate change has contributed to more severe locust outbreaks in China, Argentina, and the Middle East.
The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization warned that climate change could lead to more locust outbreaks in parts of Africa.
According to the World Economic Forum, one swarm of locust can cover 20% of the land surface of the Earth, affecting the livelihood of 10% of the world’s population by consuming up to 200 tonnes of vegetation per day.
Pasture and croplands have already suffered major damage in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia and there are potentially severe consequences for the region where nearly 12 million people are coping with severe acute food shortage, yet many, rely on agriculture for their survival.
In Kenya alone, swarms up to 60 km long and 40 km wide, invaded all the northern counties and some central areas in less than a month, causing substantial damage to crops and deprived livestock of pastureland.
Scientists have been striving to control locusts for thousands of years, understanding how swarms form and what can break them apart is of great significance.
So how can we control locust swarms?
1. Dispersing locust swarms with aeroplanes
A study, published in Physical Review E, shows that a locust in a swarm must be able to interact with at least two neighbours concurrently.
Forming a swarm is all about their approaching neighbours. One swam will then clique against the other for protection, mates, and food.
Locusts on the move require high amounts of protein and salt to thrive through so they will eat each other.
The research team looked at possible ways of breaking up the swarm, one of them was to disperse them by using low-flying planes that create atmospheric turbulence to disrupt locusts.
The huge size of swarms, however, makes this method impractical.
A typical locust swarm can cover several hundred square kilometres.
Locusts can fly up to two kilometres in the air and have even been reported to travel over whole oceans.
2. Creating exclusion areas
Local measures like burning tyres to create an exclusion zone, catching them in nets or digging trenches will prevent locusts from reaching areas with gardens, plantations, and farms, but this will do little to halt the progress of the swarm.
Farmers are advised to burn green branches to generate smoke if they are trying to drive a swarm of locust off your crops.
Although this doesn't always work, some farmers have had success smoking the locust out.
3. Insecticides
Currently, the most commonly used control is insecticide. Sprayed from land or by use of aerial vehicles like drones and aircraft, this method poses negative effects on the environment.
4. Natural Predators
Taking advantage of biological control mechanisms such as wasps, birds, and reptiles may prove effective at keeping small swarms at bay.
Residents are urged to keep chicken or ducks in their yard or gardens to eat the locusts.
Agriculturalists detail other methods of managing more established swarms that call for newly-developed microbial biopesticides, such as the fungus-based “Green Muscle” that have proven to offer a larger-scale solution.
5. Handpicking
Pick them off the plants and squish them, or drop them into a jar filled with soapy water. If you don't want to do it yourself, hire neighbours and pay them for the number of locusts they collect.
6. Stop climate change
This one requires a huge international effort. A warming planet puts ecosystem balance in peril.
Planting more food forests, forests in general, and permaculture can stop the swarms from starting in the first place.
Water insecurity, pest infestation, and climate change are all linked, as we tackle this emergency, we need to think about livelihoods and our environment in the long term.
7. Garlic Oil
Spray the plants that you are trying to keep the locust off with garlic oil.
Garlic oil has been found to be an effective means of repelling locust naturally.
Neem oil can also be sprayed on the plants to disrupt the growth of the locust nymph.
8. Eat them
If you can’t beat them eat them. Enjoy a locust plague feast. Just like grasshoppers Chef Basson from Jerusalem shows us how to cook them to perfection.
9. Preventative control
One of the most effective ways to avoid the devastating effects of locust plagues is to prevent them from happening in the first place.
Considerable resources should be allocated to early warning and preventative control strategies.
Locust monitoring stations should collect data on weather, locust numbers, and location of breeding grounds.
Identifying any outbreak pockets of locusts when they're young and spraying them with pesticides can be a very effective solution.
This is complicated because locusts in manageable populations are an important part of our ecosystem; scientists don’t want to just wipe them out.
They're hunting for solutions to keep locusts at bay without eradicating them, which is a tricky balancing act.
10. Pray
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