MALNUTRITION: MADAGASCAR: Drought, and now locusts

13 August 2010 (IRIN) - Swarms of locusts have been forming in the South Madagascar for months threatening the livelihoods of hundreds and thousands of Malagasy and if a major control campaign is not set up quick infestations could reach "plague proportions," the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. "When there is a locust infestation, Malagasy farmers do not even sow any more as they know that their harvest will be destroyed," Alexandre Huynh, FAO's Emergency and Rehabilitation operations Coordinator in Madagascar, told IRIN. Bad news in a region already hit hard: the south is chronically food insecure, malnutrition levels are high under normal conditions, cyclones are an annual occurrence and an ongoing political crisis has seen foreign aid cut to only emergency humanitarian aid, and only if justifiable. In June 2010 the governments Early Warning System (SAP) recorded a record 65 communes, affecting some 866,000 Malagasy, fell into the "Food Insecure" category. According to a FAO statement released on 12 August Madagascar is currently in its dry and cool season, "which is unsuitable for locust breeding. But the wet and hot weather of the rainy season - which lasts until spring - will favour rapid reproduction". And given suitable conditions, this type of locusts (Locusta migratoria capito) can produce a new generation roughly every two months and up to four during one year. The potential for damage is evident given their voracious appetite: a single locust can consume roughly its own weight in a day - about two grams. According to FAO one tonne of locusts which is considered a very small part of an average swarm, eats the same amount of food a day as about 2,500 people. Caught off guard A natural occurrence in the south of Madagascar, locusts would normally be contained by the government's Locust Control Centre (CNA). Under funded and unable to adequately monitor the spread of the animals, the agency was unaware that massive swarms were forming by the end of April 2010. "During the 2009-10 rainy season, the CNA, weakened as a result of the socio-political situation in the country, and consequently was not in the position to appropriately manage all locust data," a FAO document, titled Emergency assistance to locust control in Madagascar, said. It was only when swarms were observed moving out of their traditional breeding areas beyond the South-West of the Island that authorities became aware of the magnitude of the problem. A June evaluation by the CNA estimated that over 460,000 rural Malagasy households were at risk. If you think it's expensive now... FAO estimated that around 15 million USD would be urgently needed to mount a major campaign by ground and by air on an estimated half a million hectares of land. Huynh said FAO had already secured some $500,000 through its Technical Cooperation Emergency program, a $6,5 million contribution through the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund was being finalized and for the balance: "discussions with donors are ongoing." He insisted there was no time to waste: "we have to start operations by mid-September. If the response is delayed food production will be directly impacted and the necessary anti-locust campaign would be much more costly and would spread on several years."