MALNUTRITION: Madagascan scientists say they warned of locust swarms

Rivonala Razafison  8 November 2010
Government froze the budget for Madagascar's anti-locust work



Locust_Flickr_HVargas

The locust swarms that devastated crops in Madagascar last summer were predicted by the country's scientists several months in advance, but lack of government intervention meant control measures were not taken in time, they have said.
"We warned the government [as early as February] the locust invasion would be out of control by August–September if there was no concrete intervention in the field," said Rado Solohery Ramboa, chief of the administration and finance department at the National Anti-Locust Center (CNA), which gathers data on factors that affect locust swarm formations.
But the government froze the budget for the centre's work for the first part of the year, due to socio-economic problems following the coup in March 2009, he said.
Since May, Madagascar has suffered locust invasion swarms of billions of insects. Around 120,000 hectares of crops in the south of the country and hundreds of hectares in the central highlands were destroyed in August alone, according to the CNA.
The swarms also disrupted field studies, delaying agricultural research, Yvonne Rabenantoandro, science director at the National Centre of Applied Research for Rural Development (FOFIFA), based in Antananarivo, told SciDev.Net. But they also enabled researchers to update the locust alert system, learn more about the biology of locusts and push on with the development of biological control of the pests.
Since January 2006, FOFIFA, the Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD) centre, based in Paris, France, and the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), based in Nairobi, Kenya, have been studying different fungi that could biologically control the locusts.
The centres have developed an efficient new biopesticide from Metarhizium anisopliae var. acridum (SP9), an indigenous species of fungus from Madagascar, scientists said. The compound is undergoing authorisation for use in controlling locust swarms and, if approved, could help cut the costs of importing pesticides.
Until the biopesticide is ready the National Colloquium on the Preventive Fight Against Locusts in Madagascar, held in Antananarivo last September, recommended the use of Green Muscle, an authorised product developed in West Africa containing Metarhizium anisopliae (IMI330189).
Although field tests show a high efficacy for this biopesticide, its introduction in Madagascar requires preliminary testing to better understand its virulence and potential risks, said Nguya Kalemba Maniania, a researcher at icipe.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization also warned in early August of the potential for swarms to reach plague proportions unless urgent control measures take place and has since been working with the organisations in Madagascar to control the swarms.
"We need to better understand how and why swarms form, and develop better predictive measures," Iain Couzin, an evolutionary biologist at Princeton University, United States, told SciDev.Net. "But prediction has to be backed with sufficient resources to take preventative action."
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/madagascan-scientists-say-they-warned-of-locust-swarms.html

MALNUTRITION: MADAGASCAR: Fears of another locust plague

9 September 2010 (IRIN) -
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned of an "imminent and severe threat from the increasing number of swarms of Migratory Locusts" in Madagascar, requiring "immediate response assistance to prevent a humanitarian disaster". "There is a likelihood of extensive breeding ... Should that occur, Madagascar will experience one of the most severe locust outbreaks in recent years, and will need to launch large-scale control interventions through mid-2011," the FAO said. The warning was issued at an Emergency Assistance to Locust Control meeting on 8 September in the capital, Antananarivo, a few days after an Emergency Transboundary Outbreak Pest (ETOP) Situation Report for August with a Forecast till mid-October, was published by USAID. Dealing with the locust threat will cost about US$14.5 million; so far $4.7 million has been received from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and $490,000 from the FAO Technical Cooperation Emergency programme. Annie Monard, the Rome-based FAO locust officer who will be arriving in Madagascar in the next few days, told IRIN that the indicators were of "serious concern", as the locust population was "so high" that they had been able to "escape the traditional area" [in southwestern Madagascar] and swarms had been observed along the east coast and in the whole mid-west. A four-year locust plague ended in 2000, when only the far north of the world's fourth biggest island was spared from invasion by the Malagasy Migratory Locust (Locusta migratoria capito), and even the east coast, usually considered too humid, was affected. This insect can produce a new generation almost every two months, and consumes roughly its own weight in vegetation - about two grams - every day. Monard said that while travelling in a helicopter in 1998 she looked down on a swarm covering an area about 30 km by 70 km. "It was like a huge cloud moving over the whole plain." Undetected The build-up of locusts occurred undetected during the previous rainy seasons (from October to April) while the capacity of the government's Locust Control Centre (CNA) was weakened as a result of the socio-political situation in the country, said an FAO document, Emergency assistance to locust control in Madagascar. Madagascar has been enmeshed in a political crisis since 17 March 2009, with foreign aid cut to emergency humanitarian assistance, and only if justifiable, since the "illegal" transfer of power in which President Marc Ravalomanana stepped down in favour of opposition leader Andry Rajoelina. The current prevailing dry, cool weather is unsuitable for breeding, but with the onset of the rains and higher temperatures, rapid reproduction occurs. As population density increases, the insects undergo behavioural and physical changes from solitary to gregarious, forming swarms that devastate crops - every million locusts eats one ton of food. "The recently reported swarms outside their outbreak area indicate a major upsurge is on the rise. Past experience demonstrates that a plague could evolve if the locust population remains unchecked at this stage. The ensuing plague would persist for many years, with devastating consequences for food security," said the FAO emergency assistance document. "Currently immature locust swarms will mature and start breeding at the onset of the next rainy season, and concentrations of wingless young locusts (hopper bands) will develop from October to December 2010. These bands will attack primarily the eastern parts of the outbreak area, which will receive the first rains. However, they will also affect the mid-west, which has been already invaded by swarms." Monard said surveys and preparations had been undertaken since July this year to begin a spraying campaign ahead of the onset of the rains, using "three families of pesticides" to keep the insects in check. Three families of pesticides Conventional pesticides will protect threatened crops, Insect Growth Regulators will control hoppers [wingless locusts], and biological pesticides will be applied in ecologically sensitive areas, such as "natural reserves, national parks and populated areas", the FAO document said. Spraying an estimated 500,000 hectares would take place when the locust populations were most vulnerable, and they "are not yet winged and less mobile, are marching, and at their most sensitive to pesticides," Monard commented. However, equipment had to be pre-positioned ahead of the rains, as the roads to many areas threatened by locusts would become impassable during the rainy season, the FAO said. FAO noted in its August Locust Response report that "The livelihoods of the rural communities, already precarious especially in the Great South [of Madagascar], are under immediate locust threat." Around 70 percent of Madagascar's roughly 20 million people live below the poverty line, and 50 percent of children under the age of five are malnourished. Up to 52 communes in the region are predicted to be food insecure by the end of 2010, and 10 of these - containing around 100,000 people - are seen as acutely food insecure, according to an evaluation by the World Food Programme in July 2010. All the food insecure communes are threatened by locust swarms. The CNA said more than 460,000 rural households, or 2.3 million people, would be affected by locust invasions, and potential crop losses could amount to at least $135 million.

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."