FOOD INSECURITY
Pests threaten Botswana’s breadbasket Pandamatenga
Amas s i v e locust outbreak first reported in Botswana earlier in the year, now threatens the approaching planting season with gloomy prospects for the breadbasket region of Pandamatenga, where most of the country’s sorghum staple is grown.
The outbreaks reported in short succession since February to May of this year have affected areas in four districts to date, the Okavango, Chobe, Central as well as Gantsi districts.
It has now become apparent that the livelihoods of residents in villages in the affected districts are threatened if immediate action to prevent disaster is not taken.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is currently working with the Food and Agriculture Organisation Sub- regional Office For Southern Africa (FAO SFS) and the International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA) to strengthen the country’s capacity as well as regional institutions to respond to the African Migratory Locust (AML) threat.
Communication Officer at FAO Botswana, Kewaone Ntshonga told The Midweek Sun that FAO has provided US$500 000 through emergency Technical Cooperation Project funding facility to support the response in the region.
“FAO will support the establishment of National Locust Control Units within ex i sting national plant protection entities as well as support the training of trainers for relevant Internal Red Locust and government staff,” he said, adding that the organisation will also procure surveillance and mapping equipment for communities and International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA).
The outbreak has become the biggest blow to the livelihoods of people in the Northwestern part of the country who are dependent on mainly
Agriculture.
Ntshonga says farmers in those areas are still trying to recover from the impact of the 2019 drought therefore if proper measures to control the pest are not timely implemented the people might face further food and nutrition insecurities.
Among the major efforts that have been put in place to mitigate the outbreak include the formation of teams dedicated to fighting the locust through surveillance, deployment of technical staff and engagement of various methods and technologies.
These methods include, among others, aerial spray backpacks sprayers and vehicle- mounted sprayers. The Ministry also embraces biological control methods such as birds that feed on locusts.
Ntshonga says containment of the pest has been hampered by the ecological sensitivity of its breeding areas, lack of surveillance and early warning capacity and the lack of environmentally safe pesticides.
Apart from the AML threat, Botswana continues to be seriously affected by the impact of the Fall Armyworm (FAW), Quelea birds, transboundary pest threat that is difficult to manage.
So far, FAO cannot give specific time frame as to when the situation is likely to continue for. In addition, as a result of the ecological sensitivity of the affected areas, the Okavango and Chobe, which are in close proximity to the Delta, makes it more difficult to use pesticides.
Outbreaks of AML have also affected the livelihoods of millions more people in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. FAO’s concern is that the population in all the four affected countries are still recovering from the impact of the 2019 drought, and grappling with the economic impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic.