EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Desert Locust invasion presents a very cloudy future for almost all the countries in the Horn of Africa. An estimated population of 4.1 million are acutely affected by food insecurity in Somalia. This is caused by the growing infestation of Desert Locusts in the region since last year 2019. The invasion has caused serious agricultural implications as far as food security is concerned. This report is therefore geared towards highlighting the real challenges of desert locust in Somali, the local and international interventions that have been put in place and the compensation if any the locals have received towards cushioning the impacts of the scourge. This report will also address the financial effects the invasion has caused on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the national budget of the country.

INTRODUCTION

Somali is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Kenya to the south west and Gulf of Aden to the north. In late 2019, huge swarms of desert locusts originating in Yemen have invaded farmlands and rangelands in the northern Somali. The huge swarms of locusts are currently swelling up and migrating into the country thus posing serious threat to agricultural food production. Conventionally, swarming locusts can cause large scale agricultural and environmental damage. According to the Ministry of agriculture of the Somalia Government, a single locust invasion can cause a huge loss of about 170 000 tons of grain. This is equivalent to food sufficient to feed 1 million people per year.

Food security in late 2019 was seriously affected by floods that disrupted livelihoods and caused large scale displacement of populations. Moreover, the floods had also resulted in significant crop destruction in the riverine areas. Thus, before the start of the 2019, many poor households in Northern and Central Somalia were still recovering from food and income losses incurred during the severe previous droughts. According to Somalia Ministry of Agriculture, estimated populations of 2.6 million Somalians are currently facing serious food insecurity challenges coupled with conflict, floods and droughts.

Desert locusts are continuously posing a huge threat to the current GU season crop production. This infestation is significantly posing a huge concern to pasture availability as well

as crop cultivation across the Somaliland. The UN agency, Food and Agriculture Organization has significantly been in partnership with the government of Somaliland. FAO has significantly procured and delivered bio pesticides and aerial and ground based equipment that is used by the government of Somaliland Locust Field Teams.

According to Ibrahim Ashaggra, a father of 7 who resides in Woldia in the Amhara region, the infestation has caused a huge blow to him and the likes who depend on farming for survival and to pay for school fees. At the beginning of the year, huge swarm of desert locusts have descended on his 10-hectare maize farm and devoured almost three quarters of his crop. Moreover, though he was supposed to harvest about 3000 kilogram of Teff, a cereal grass and maize this year, the locust and the untimely rains significantly impacted on his intended produce. ‘If this trend continues, it is likely to pose significant challenge to our regional food supply,’ he paused. While the current desert locust threat is eminent, locals are trying very hard to find the swarms driven away from their farms. Mr. Ibrahim hinted that he had driven the locusts from his farms but this has not been capable of eradicating the entire threat. They continuously invade the farms.

This notwithstanding, according to Mr. Abdi Mwanisi, a resident of Beer, Somalia, the locust attack on his farm in November have resulted to the loss of crop produce amounting to about $10000. The infestation has left his family and six other members in huge debt and in incapacitated to pay school fees and meet basic expenses. By the beginning of January, the desert locust swarms had damaged about 100 percent of the entire Somalia staple crops; the maize and sorghum. The infestation has caused serious food insecurity challenges since the country had experienced several years of droughts and bad harvests and they were trying to recover from these challenges.

Locust infestation in Somalia has significantly called upon a number of stakeholders and intervention strategies. However, according to Mr. Ibrahim Abdalla, a local resident in Afar, Somali, and the government response towards the locust infestation scourge has been very weak. The government lacks the requisite expertise and resources to combat the scourge. Moreover, according to the Somali’s unstable security situation, planes cannot be used to spray insecticides from the air. According to the Somaliland Minister of Planing and national development, Mr. Hassan Mohammed Ali, the government actually has nothing to combat the locusts. Most

farmers have been left to fend for themselves. People have been literally spraying the million locusts with their hands. While the little well off and those who cannot afford, have resorted to using their cars to facilitate the spraying.

The government response available is being coordinated by the newly formed Somaliland Locust Management Task Force. The Task Force has incorporated diverse skills of experts around the world towards addressing the plaque. The government has also engaged in public service announcements geared towards creating awareness and enhancing locust reporting to the necessary stakeholders. According to Fatuma, a local field assistant in Beer, local dialect reporting on desert locust infestation has significantly helped them to trace where new invasions have erupted. Moreover, the Local and community leaders have also been encouraged to report locust sightings and to engage in control exercise geared towards burying locust eggs in trenches.

While the government has been keen on addressing this plaque, both financial and technical issues have presented serious bottlenecks in addressing the locust infestation. Moreover, while the conflict and chaos that has taken much place in Somali has scuttled efforts to use planes in spraying, the government had found no solution but to use helicopters to spray the pesticides. This initiative has been funded by the US Agency for International Development. The aerial spraying has majorly focused on the region of Puntland in the northeast, the Galmadung and the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

To help in the locating and spraying of the locusts, FAO has been engaged in the recruitment of technical advisers from West Africa who have got experience in such outbreaks. FAO also provide backpacker sprayers and large equipment that can be mounted on motor vehicles and aircrafts for effective and massive spraying. According to Hussein Mohamud, Somalia’s former security adviser, efforts to locust invasion eradication are also thwarted by Al- Shabaab militant threats in some of the parts of Somalia.

Against this background of terrorist threats, those engaged in the fight against the locust invasion have begun negotiation talks with the Somali extremist groups to allow spraying in the rural areas where they are active. According to Abdirizak, a local field officer in Galmadung, already emergency workers have begun to spray the pesticides in areas considered security hotspots.

Additionally, the locals have also been engaged in various interventions geared towards addressing the scourge. Locals in the region of Puntland have resorted to shouting, striking metallic objects and whistling in a bid to get rid of the insects. According to other reports, some locals have resorted to reciting the Koran to get rid of the flying pests.

In a bid to address the locust infestation and to show government concern, the Somalia’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Hassan has reiterated the Government’s commitment to work together with international partners to contain the desert locust upsurge as much as possible. He recognized the need to rapidly scale up control operations in a bid to mitigate any damage to food security thus protecting rural livelihoods in Somalia.

Consequently, the government of Somaliland had declared the invasion a national emergency. This decision had been arrived at after new generations of desert locusts were reported breeding across the country thus posing absolute threats to the food security. According to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, Hamoud Ali Hassan, declaring a national emergency was the only way towards addressing the food security and nutrition challenges that the invasion has caused.

The government has registered serious concerns of the outbreak in reference to agriculture and vegetation. According to Mr. Said, a resident of Garowe- Somali, without adequate spraying to stop the swarms, the already worrying outbreak could significantly turn into a huge plaque. The locusts have significantly hit the rural parts of Somali where over 50 percent of the residents depend on animals for their livelihood. According to Mr. Said Abdi, the locusts are eating the pastures thus reducing the little available food for the livestock. As a result most animals have grown weak, while the milk output has significantly gone down with each day. According to experts, this is likely to skyrocket the cases of malnutrition in the area.

While the infestation is presenting a real challenge to food security, the World Bank Group has moved in to provide flexible support to countries affected by the plaque. Through the World Bank Crisis Response Window, the bank is mobilizing the regional multiphase emergency locust response program in a bid to help Somalia combat the locust upsurge. Moreover, this mobilization is also likely to protect the country’s human capital and productive assets. Additionally, it will also facilitate long term recovery and resilience in the affected region.

While there is no compensations yet received from the government by the locals, the government through the ministry of agriculture and irrigation and Food and Agriculture Organization have issued an updated joint appeal to the international organization for $ 56.9 million fund. This emergency fund is geared towards supporting emergency control measures and provision of in kind farming and pastoral packages such as feed cubes and animal’s supplements to the affected communities.

Additionally, the emergency locust response program have also been approved by the World Bank in a bid to provide immediate assistance to the poor and the vulnerable communities such as the herders and farmers in the rural households. The Emergency Locust Response Program is likely to incorporate the use of social safety nets such as cash transfers while also investing in the short term recovery of both agricultural and livestock production. Moreover, this program is also expected to strengthen surveillance and early warning systems to enhance countries effort in combating the plaque.

Prior to locust infestation, Somalia has been a standout performer for economic growth in the sub-continent. However, with the growing impact of locust plaques on its grounds and widespread breeding and new swarms registering in different parts of the country, the UN has estimated that the conducive breeding sites and conditions available in the area could see the locusts multiply by over 400 times. According to experts, this huge multiplication can significantly decimate crops in the region which heavily relies on agriculture to support about one-third of its Gross Domestic Product. . Moreover, this infestation will also impact over 65 percent of the country’s employability rate. Compounded by challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the infestation is likely to present a very serious financial shocks to the terms of trade. The blow to the regional economy that is provided by the agricultural sector and the food security will significantly be worsened by the disruptions within the manufacturing, construction and the tourism sectors.

Consequently, the locust infestation has also caused labor effects in the construction sector. According to Salim Juar, an employee in a construction center, stalling of robust growth in the construction sector may lead to job losses to those dependent in the informal sectors. It is worth noting that whereas the government has put up several efforts to mitigate the effects of locusts, it is quite necessary for the government to partner with other stakeholders and increase

funding aimed locust eradication. Local sensitization and training coupled with intensified use of pesticides can culminate into positive outcomes as far as the war against locust invasion is concerned