Finding Farmer-First Solutions to Beat Locust Infestation

Featured Image Credit: The Bug Picture

Desert locusts used to be a one in a 70-year occurrence in countries such as Kenya, but climate change means that these devastating infestations are likely to become much more frequent.

A swarm of locusts can be up to 460 square miles in size, and a swarm of such size could eat 423 million pounds of plants every day. In fact, 35 million people have already suffered food insecurity as a result of the recent infestation across the region.

There are currently no solutions that can help farmers proactively prepare for a climate-triggered event such as a locust infestation yet it is vital to improve awareness and responses to reduce panic among farmers and build local resilience.

We need to find innovative farmer-first solutions to overcome these challenges.

What is the Solution to the Locust Problem?

Tomorrow.io is working on a farmer-first climate action system to help vulnerable communities take simple actions to protect their farms and allow smallholder farmers to actively contribute to (and even benefit from) the response to locust swarms.

Led by TomorrowNow.org, this approach will bring together a range of technology and expertise, including

• Tomorrow.io’s AI-powered hyperlocal forecasts and digital early warning tools
• Digital Green’s farmer-first multi-channel digital extension approach
• Kenarava’s farmer-first on the ground experience
• The Bug Picture’s substantial knowledge of desert locusts and other pests

This partnership will warn communities in their local language of approaching desert locusts and allow farmers to benefit from the swarms by selling the locusts as a seasonal crop.

Farmers will receive an SMS or WhatsApp message altering them of the latest weather conditions. These messages will use farmer reports on locust sightings as part of the alerts. Farmers will also create content such as videos to educate people in other countries on the actions they can take to protect and empower their communities and deliver training to teach other farmers how to identify desert locusts.

There is a focus on women-specific content, and the project will engage female farmers and cooperatives in the design process from the beginning, as harvesting and processing insects have traditionally been a female job.

This approach has already been tried and tested. For example, in early 2021, The Bug Picture harvested 4.3 tons of live locusts in 6 weeks, and the average farmer household collected 12,000 locusts per night.

While this project is being initially trialed in East Africa, it can be quickly, easily, and affordably rolled out around the world. The impact could be enormous, as each desert locust harvested today eliminates the 40 potential locusts in the next generation and 1,600 in the generation after that.