Malawi in race to contain possible locust attack

The Ministry of Agriculture is racing against time to contain a possible outbreak of red locust which if left until the onset of this year’s rains would degenerate and destroy crops, including maize, the country’s staple grain.

Initial assessments conducted in March this year by the International Red Locust Control Organisation for Central and Southern Africa (IRLCO-CSA) indicated that Malawi has a high concentration of red locust in the Southern Region.

The locust is decidedly strong in the Lake Chilwa and Chiuta Plains, an area identified by IRLCO-CSA as an outbreak hot spot for red locust in Malawi and Mozambique.

“We are currently waiting for assessment report from IRLCO-CSA, but we are racing against the onset of the first rains that are very close,” said Sara Tione, Ministry of Agriculture public relations officer, in an interview with the Malawi News Agency (Mana). “You cannot travel on foot to the breeding area. You need a helicopter to take you there which is provided by our counterparts at IRLCO-CSA.”

But Tione was non-committal on the availability of environmental-friendly pesticides such as Green Muscle and Metalizium, chemicals used in locust containment exercises.

In August this year, Ken Ndalama, country representative for IRLCO-CSA, said the exercise was delaying due to inavailability of the organisation’s helicopter.

Areas usually prone to red locust outbreaks include Wembere Plains, Malagarasi Basin, Iku-Katavi Plains and Rukwa Valley in Tanzania, Mweru wa Ntipa and Kafue Flats in Zambia and Buzi-Gorongosa Plains in Mozambique.