The Denver Post

Supercompu­ter helps in tracking swarms of locusts in East Africa

- By Rodney Muhumuza and Desmond Tiro

KAMPALA, UGANDA» A supercompu­ter is boosting efforts in East Africa to control a locust outbreak that raises what the U.N. food agency calls “an unpreceden­ted threat” to the region’s food security.

The computer, a donation from Great Britain, uses satellite data to track locust swarms and predict their next destinatio­n. Quickly sharing the informatio­n of the locusts’ movements with regional authoritie­s is key to controllin­g the outbreak, as even a small swarm of locusts in a single day can move nearly 100 miles and consume the amount of crops that would otherwise feed 35,000 people.

Based in a regional climate center in Kenya, where the insects have been particular­ly destructiv­e, the supercompu­ter system “produces extensive weather forecasts to predict the high winds, rainfall, and humidity that provide ideal breeding conditions for locusts so climate experts can predict their next destinatio­n,” the U.K.’s Department for Internatio­nal Developmen­t said in a statement. “By improving early warning systems we are helping charities and African government­s to take rapid action to protect vulnerable communitie­s.”

Kenya, Somalia and Uganda have been battling the worst locust outbreak that parts of East Africa have seen in 70 years. Swarms have also been sighted in Djibouti, Eritrea, Tanzania, Congo and South Sudan, a country where roughly half the population already faces hunger after years of civil war.

The threat from the locusts “remains extremely alarming” in the Horn of Africa, where “widespread breeding is in progress and new swarms are starting to form, representi­ng an unpreceden­ted threat to food security and livelihood­s at the beginning of the upcoming cropping season,” according to a warning issued this month by the U.N. Food and Agricultur­e Organizati­on.

Locust swarms, sometimes as large as some cities, can destroy crops and devastate pasture for animals. Aerial spraying is generally considered the only effective control method. In Uganda, where the locust infestatio­n has spread to more than 20 districts in the country’s north and northeast, soldiers have been battling swarms using hand-held spray pumps because of difficulti­es in getting aircraft as well as the recommende­d pesticide.

Officials in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where the supercompu­ter is based, said the technology will boost their efforts in tracking locust swarms.

“The forecast is quite useful because it

helps them to focus their efforts in the areas that are most likely to be affected by the desert locust in the coming say, 10 days,” said Abubakr Salih Babiker, a climate scientist at Nairobi’s regional climate center. “In this way they are more efficient in allocating their resources, allocating the financial capacity to control the desert locust. It is a very innovative and new way of using technology to solve a real-life problem like the desert locust.”

Kenneth Mwangi, a satellite informatio­n analyst at the center, said the team can run better prediction models in an outbreak where the spread of locusts “has been very rapid.” The U.N. recently raised its aid appeal relating to locusts to $138 million, up from $76 million, saying the need for more help is urgent. Experts have warned that if the number of locusts is unchecked they could grow 500 times by June, when drier weather is expected in East Africa.

 ?? Ben Curtis, The Associated Press ?? Ranger Gabriel Lesoipa is surrounded by desert locusts as he and a ground team relay the coordinate­s of the swarm to a plane spraying pesticides in the Nasuulu Conservanc­y in Kenya in February.
Ben Curtis, The Associated Press Ranger Gabriel Lesoipa is surrounded by desert locusts as he and a ground team relay the coordinate­s of the swarm to a plane spraying pesticides in the Nasuulu Conservanc­y in Kenya in February.
 ?? Khalil Senosi, The Associated Press ?? Kenneth Mwangi, a satellite informatio­n analyst at the Intergover­nmental Authority on Developmen­t in Nairobi, Kenya, shows a map predicting the movement of desert locust swarms.
Khalil Senosi, The Associated Press Kenneth Mwangi, a satellite informatio­n analyst at the Intergover­nmental Authority on Developmen­t in Nairobi, Kenya, shows a map predicting the movement of desert locust swarms.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States