FAO supports Namibia's fight against locusts
Namibia hard hit by locust outbreaks
Between February 2020 and June 2022, consecutive locust outbreaks damaged over 2 000 hectares of cropland and over 700 000 hectares of grazing land.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently handed over equipment to strengthen Namibia’s locust surveillance and monitoring interventions.
Between February 2020 and June 2022, consecutive locust outbreaks damaged over 2 000 hectares of cropland and over 700 000 hectares of grazing land.
More than 3 million hectares have been surveyed.
According to the FAO, two brand-new vehicles and nine desktop computers were donated to the agriculture ministry.
The equipment was purchased with funds from a regional project, "African Migratory Locust Response to Mitigate Impacts on Food Security and Livelihoods," supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).
Vulnerable
The project has been implemented in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the countries that have been most hard hit by locust outbreaks.
The FAO says that the consecutive outbreaks of African migratory locusts (AML), red, and brown locusts, have destroyed crops and grazing and therefore impacted the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in the north-eastern and north-central regions, and the southern parts of Namibia.
"The communities had been affected by floods, drought and the impacts of Covid-19, and had barely recovered from shocks associated with these disasters."
Since then, Namibia has been conducting control and early-warning operations for existing and future locust outbreaks.
"The support comes at the right time. Since 2020, we have embarked on extensive surveillance, monitoring, and control of the African migratory and brown locust, which is an expensive operation," Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata, the agriculture ministry's executive director, said.
He added that the FAO’s support has helped streamline the operation.
"We will now boost ground surveillance and control operations in order to contain the pest and safeguard food and nutrition security, and ultimately, the livelihood of the people."
Effective support
FAO has supported Namibia by providing training at national and community levels in effective locust monitoring including surveillance, mapping, and reporting.
A total of 29 government vehicles that were deployed to locust surveillance and monitoring operations in affected regions were serviced and repaired.
Farayi Zimudzi, the FAO representative to Namibia, said "the support is aimed to protect food and nutrition security and the livelihoods of vulnerable people in locust-affected countries from locust damage in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. I reconfirm FAO’s commitment to ensuring that the outbreak is kept at levels that do not threaten the food and security situation of the already vulnerable communities."
According to FAO, 58 technical staff and 384 farmers and youth have been trained and capacitated through this project, which accelerated the momentum to win the battle against the locusts.
Enhanced control
The FAO added that the introduction of the eLocust3m app in the fight against the locusts has facilitated the building of the capacities of agricultural extension officers, community-level key informants, and traditional leaders to effectively coordinate locust surveillance and reporting in their respective areas.
A total of 40 tablets and 56 smartphones were made available to the ministry’s Plant Health Unit to enhance surveillance.
The FAO said awareness campaigns have been conducted on locust control among affected communities, while requisite aerial and ground monitoring, surveillance, and control operations have been undertaken.
Additionally, national locust control coordination units have been strengthened and linked to community-level structures.
Between February 2020 and June 2022, consecutive locust outbreaks damaged over 2 000 hectares of cropland and over 700 000 hectares of grazing land.
More than 3 million hectares have been surveyed.
According to the FAO, two brand-new vehicles and nine desktop computers were donated to the agriculture ministry.
The equipment was purchased with funds from a regional project, "African Migratory Locust Response to Mitigate Impacts on Food Security and Livelihoods," supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).
Vulnerable
The project has been implemented in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the countries that have been most hard hit by locust outbreaks.
The FAO says that the consecutive outbreaks of African migratory locusts (AML), red, and brown locusts, have destroyed crops and grazing and therefore impacted the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in the north-eastern and north-central regions, and the southern parts of Namibia.
"The communities had been affected by floods, drought and the impacts of Covid-19, and had barely recovered from shocks associated with these disasters."
Since then, Namibia has been conducting control and early-warning operations for existing and future locust outbreaks.
"The support comes at the right time. Since 2020, we have embarked on extensive surveillance, monitoring, and control of the African migratory and brown locust, which is an expensive operation," Ndiyakupi Nghituwamata, the agriculture ministry's executive director, said.
He added that the FAO’s support has helped streamline the operation.
"We will now boost ground surveillance and control operations in order to contain the pest and safeguard food and nutrition security, and ultimately, the livelihood of the people."
Effective support
FAO has supported Namibia by providing training at national and community levels in effective locust monitoring including surveillance, mapping, and reporting.
A total of 29 government vehicles that were deployed to locust surveillance and monitoring operations in affected regions were serviced and repaired.
Farayi Zimudzi, the FAO representative to Namibia, said "the support is aimed to protect food and nutrition security and the livelihoods of vulnerable people in locust-affected countries from locust damage in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. I reconfirm FAO’s commitment to ensuring that the outbreak is kept at levels that do not threaten the food and security situation of the already vulnerable communities."
According to FAO, 58 technical staff and 384 farmers and youth have been trained and capacitated through this project, which accelerated the momentum to win the battle against the locusts.
Enhanced control
The FAO added that the introduction of the eLocust3m app in the fight against the locusts has facilitated the building of the capacities of agricultural extension officers, community-level key informants, and traditional leaders to effectively coordinate locust surveillance and reporting in their respective areas.
A total of 40 tablets and 56 smartphones were made available to the ministry’s Plant Health Unit to enhance surveillance.
The FAO said awareness campaigns have been conducted on locust control among affected communities, while requisite aerial and ground monitoring, surveillance, and control operations have been undertaken.
Additionally, national locust control coordination units have been strengthened and linked to community-level structures.
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