Yemen has been suffering such horrific humanitarian disasters recently, and the last thing they need is a plague of locusts consuming their food crops. Unfortunately, what was predicted back in November 2015 has come to pass. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations had warned at the time that due to the heavy and widespread rains that fell in northwest Africa, the Horn of Africa and Yemen could favor Desert Locust breeding. There is nothing that Yemen could do about the warning, as they have been engulfed in a civil war and being bombarded from above by Saudi warplanes. The World Post recently raised the question “Can We Care Less About the War in Yemen?” Fair question. Depressing answer I am afraid.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN reports:
Locust monitoring, early warning and preventive control measures are believed to have played an important role in the decline in the frequency and duration of plagues since the 1960s; however, today climate change is leading to more frequent, unpredictable and extreme weather and poses fresh challenges on how to monitor and respond to locust activity.
Inter Press Service has a fascinating story on the swarms in Yemen.
On 12 April the FAO also urged neighbouring countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran, to mobilise survey and control teams and to take all necessary measures to prevent the destructive insects from reaching breeding areas situated in their respective territories.
The desert locust threat poses high risks not only to the Southern region of the Gulf, but also to North of Africa, FAO said and warned that strict vigilance is also required in Morocco and Algeria, especially in areas south of the Atlas Mountains, which could become possible breeding grounds for Desert Locust that have gathered in parts of the Western Sahara, Morocco and Mauritania.
Climate change appears among the major causes of the destructive plague, as groups of juvenile wingless hoppers and adults as well as hopper bands and at least one swarm formed on the southern coast of Yemen in March where heavy rains associated with tropical cyclones Chapala and Megh fell in November 2015.
“The extent of current Desert Locust breeding in Yemen is not fully known since survey teams are unable to access most areas. However, as vegetation dries out along the coast, more groups, bands and small swarms are likely to form,” said Keith Cressman, FAO Senior Locust Forecasting Officer.
Update from Locust Watch as of 4-18-16: Locust outbreak spreads to Yemen interior During the first half of April, several Desert Locust adult groups and swarms formed in at least one area along the southern coast of Yemen between Arkha and Bir Ali. As vegetation dried out, the locusts moved into adjacent interior areas where heavy rains fell recently in Al Jawf, Marib, Hadhramaut, Shabwah and Al-Maharah regions. Consequently, infestations declined on the coast but increased in the interior. On 14 April, there were confirmed reports of at least one swarm and dense groups of adults that were copulating and laying eggs in several wadis on the interior plateau between Thamud and Wadi Hadhramaut. This was followed by additional reports of adult groups at the western end of Wadi Hadhramaut between Al Sor and Al Aber. The full extent of infestations in the interior is not well known at present due to difficulties in mounting surveys in insecure and remote areas. Nevertheless, there remains a high risk that locust numbers will increase further given the widespread heavy rains that have fallen so far this month in the interior. Breeding is already underway in some areas with hatching expected to commence by the end of April and continue during May when hopper groups and bands are likely to form. New swarms could form in the interior from early June onwards. All efforts should be made to undertake surveys wherever possible and to organize control against the hoppers once they hatch and form groups and bands. In addition, there remains a low to moderate risk that a few adult groups and perhaps small swarms may have reached southern areas in Saudi Arabia and maybe Oman, UAE and southeast Iran on strong, persistent southerly and southwesterly winds during the first half of April. These countries should be alert and remain vigilant. On the central Red Sea coast of Yemen, heavy rains fell northeast of Zabid. Although this is less likely to have an impact on the current Desert Locust situation in the interior, surveys should be conducted to monitor the situation. |