• FAO says upsurge of locusts is alarming, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, where it poses a threat to food security and livelihoods.
• Agency is prototyping both rotary and fixed-wing drones for surveillance. Each comes with unique strengths.
Kenya will trial the use of drones for desert locust-infested areas for effective control.
Food Agriculture Organization senior locust forecasting officer Keith Cressman said the drones will offer the solution to hard to reach areas.
"FAO will be introducing them as eyes in the sky in Kenya to check for infestations and search large arid areas for green patches – prime feeding grounds for locusts, but often hard to find and access from the ground," he said.
FAO says the upsurge of the pest is alarming, particularly in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, where it poses a threat to food security and livelihoods.
In the six East African countries worst-affected or at risk of locusts — Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania — around 20 million people are already experiencing acute food insecurity and a further 15 million in Yemen, which is also being affected by the pest.
The current rainfall is expected to produce a dramatic increase in locust numbers in East Africa over the coming months.
New swarms are expected to move from Kenya into South Sudan and Uganda.
The situation is also worrying in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Yemen where a new generation of locusts is emerging.
FAO is prototyping both rotary and fixed-wing drones for surveillance. Each comes with unique strengths.
Rotary wing drones can hover in a place long enough to take detailed images.
Field officers can stand nearby and analyse locust concentrations in real-time.
Also, because of their precision, there might be a role for them in treatment campaigns.
“We’re looking into how we might fit them with micro-sprayers and send them out on targeted missions to treat small infestations that might otherwise be difficult to spray,” Cressman said.
Rotary drones, however, have a limited range.
The fixed-wing drones, on the other hand, can cover up to 100km in one flight, which makes them ideal for finding patches of green vegetation in vast deserts.
“We are still in the experimental phase when it comes to drones, but it is clear that these kinds of tools will become more important in the years to come,” Cressman said.
FAO is also utilising satellites to predict locust movements.
For example, FAO is partnering with the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — which jointly operates weather satellites with NASA.
NOAA is using FAO’s latest data from East Africa to expand a model that projects locust flight paths.
This allows forecasters to better understand sources of the swarms and where they will be headed in the next several days — no small feat considering swarms can travel up to 150 kilometres a day.
Similarly, the collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), has enabled FAO experts through the help of satellite images to understand where it is raining, where vegetation is growing and where breeding conditions may be favourable, in order to anticipate pest threats.
Vegetation means food and shelter for locusts.
Satellite imaging can penetrate dry topsoil to search for moisture underneath – ideal conditions for egg-laying. FAO is working with NASA and ESA to harness that data as well.
Cressman said with more extreme weather patterns everywhere, it’s likely we’ll be seeing more outbreaks in unusual places.
He said the tools for fighting locusts are becoming even more relevant as restrictions associated with coronavirus are posing new obstacles for response teams.
“None of the affected countries in East Africa is usually front line areas for locust infestations, so they had none of the available systems and tools in place.”
“We’re now speeding to make easy-to-use versions of those tools for countries like Kenya, South Sudan and Somalia – tools that can be used by field officers regardless of whether they’ve been trained in locust control or not.
Desert locusts have ravaged various parts of the country with reports indicating that a new wave of the insects could be on the way.
Other billions of the young desert locusts are winging in from breeding grounds in Somalia in search of fresh vegetation springing up with seasonal rains.