Swarms of desert locusts devouring crops and pasture in the East Africa region have spread to South Sudan, the United Nations food agency has confirmed. This should be a reason for concern to Nigeria because only the Republic of Chad separates Nigeria from the Sudan; and given that Nigeria has never been faced with such a catastrophe, it leaves the question: how ready will Nigeria be in case of such eventuality?
In terms of financial readiness, it is an open secret that the country’s resources are already stretched to the limit. Added to that, the United Nations said last month that as much as $76 million will be needed to help combat the crisis. Considering the fact that such a fight would require the collective effort of affected countries and multilateral organizations, it can be said that not enough has been garnered for such a fight. So far, not up to half of that required amount has been realized by donor countries.
Also, it might be more difficult for Nigeria considering the likely entry path of the locusts, northern Nigeria, where unrests might hinder any serious effort to fight the invasion.
The UN has warned that a food crisis could be looming in East Africa if the outbreak is not brought under control.
This historic desert locust infestation in East Africa could cause the next major famine as people in the region are already struggling with hunger after droughts were followed by cyclone flooding. In case such a scenario occurred in Nigeria, it might ruin the strides that Nigeria has made in her quest for food security over the past several years.
World Vision, which partners with communities across two dozen countries in Africa, is working with governments and community leaders to find practical solutions to the crisis before the swarms can ruin the upcoming farming season.
“They’re moving very, very fast. And they are on a very, very large scale unprecedented in the region,” Joseph Kamara, World Vision’s regional director for humanitarian and emergency affairs in East Africa has said.
The insects behind the mayhem are desert locusts, which, despite their name, thrive following periods of heavy rainfall that trigger blooms of vegetation across their normally arid habitats in Africa and the Middle East. Experts say a prolonged bout of exceptionally wet weather, including several rare cyclones that struck eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula over the last 18 months, is the primary culprit. The recent storminess, in turn, is related to the Indian Ocean Dipole, an ocean temperature gradient that was recently extremely pronounced, something that’s also been linked to the devastating bushfires in eastern Australia.
