Coronavirus Slowing Desert Locust Response Amid New Swarms

(Bloomberg) --

The coronavirus pandemic is hampering the fight against locusts in East Africa as the delivery of pesticides and equipment is delayed, heightening the threat to food security at the worst time.

“The cost of shipping the pesticides has gone up three times because there are very few flights operating,” said Hamadi Iddi Boga, a principal secretary of crop development and agricultural research in Kenya which has experienced the worst locust invasion in 70 years. Boga didn’t say if financial provision for fighting the locusts has been impacted.

The pandemic that shocked the world -- with cases topping 325,000 and deaths nearing 14,500 -- has hit the aviation industry hard as governments close borders in a bid to reduce the risk of contagion. Kenya suspended international flights after announcing another eight Covid-19 infections, bringing the country’s total to 15 on Sunday. Airlifted cargo dropped 14% in February from the previous month because of the pandemic, according to Kenya’s airports agency.

Experts from Europe and Australia are exploring how to help fight the locusts virtually in the likely event they are not be able to travel, the FAO said. The delivery of eight helicopters and pesticides expected in East Africa will be delayed, the FAO said.

New swarms of locusts are forming in the region with Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia facing the biggest risk, according to science journal Nature. Swarms also threaten Yemen, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

“The fight against an already critical desert locust outbreak is getting harder,” said Cyril Ferrand, the Eastern Africa Resilience Team Leader for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The infestation in East Africa continues to present “an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods, especially as the cropping season begins,” the FAO said.

The FAO is appealing for $153 million to help fight the locusts. So far around $107 million has been pledged or received from donors. Economic growth in Africa is already projected to slow to 1.8% this year from 3.2% as global supply chains are disrupted and investments drop on coronavirus, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.