Technology to be used for prevention against second wave of locusts in east Africa

Scientists believe that a new tracking programme will be able to prevent a second surge of the crop-ravaging insects.

They have been monitoring the worst locust attack in Kenya in 70 years.

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Previously, the United Nations (UN) had suggested that spray planes that spray pesticides can counter the problem.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that an imminent second hatch of the insects could threaten the food security of 25 million people across the region as it enters the cropping season.

Experts also said that a quick response to the problem is vital as if it is left unchecked, the number of locusts can grow up to 500 times by June.

Also see: Desert Locust swarms in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia threaten to ravage East Africa

Researchers are currently running a supercomputer model to predict breeding areas that may have been missed by ground monitoring.

According to Kenneth Mwangi, a satellite information scientist, based at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development climate prediction and applications centre, based in Nairobi, ''the model will be able to tell us the areas in which hoppers are emerging and we will also get ground information''.

''The focus will be on stopping hoppers becoming adults, as that leads to another cycle of infestation. We want to avoid that. We want to advise governments early before an upsurge happens,'' he added.

So far, the supercomputer, funded by the aid of £35 millionby theUnited Kingdom as part of its Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa programme,has successfully forecast the movement of locusts using data such as wind speed and direction, temperature, and humidity.The model has achieved 90 per cent accuracy in forecasting the future locations of the swarms, Mwangi said.