A SECOND wave of desert locust swarms is waiting to ravage a swath of farmlands across the country this summer. In a new report, the Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned of “a potentially serious food security crisis” and significant livelihood losses unless urgent action is taken to contain the pests breeding in parts of Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab, covering almost 38pc of the country’s total area. The infestation could deepen the economic pain already being felt by people because of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has shuttered the economy, forced massive layoffs and pushed millions into poverty. The FAO says the losses to agriculture in case of a fresh locust invasion could reach anywhere between Rs205bn and Rs353bn for Rabi crops and Rs464bn for Kharif crops as the swarms coming from Iran, Oman and East Africa will join the local infestation. The FAO’s call for controlling the influx amid the impact of Covid-19 on health, livelihoods and food security and nutrition of vulnerable communities needs to be heeded without delay.

Pakistan is experiencing its worst locust attack in 30 years. Despite significant crop devastation in parts of Sindh, KP, Balochistan and Punjab, the authorities have done little to contain the resurgence of the plague. Farmers mostly find themselves on their own in tackling the infestation. Although the government declared a national emergency this February, inaction has led the pests to breed fast in the coastal areas of Balochistan, as well as in the deserts of Sindh and Punjab. Helped by a wet winter and the absence of effective control operations such as aerial anti-pesticide spraying in the breeding regions, the second generation of hoppers has formed large swarms. Indeed, the locust invasion has caught the authorities unprepared and without proper equipment to fight the threat. But the sad part is that the government has failed to build the capacity to deal with the extraordinary challenge over the last one year. Even the repeated alarm sounded by Sindh is ignored by the federal government at the peril of national food security and the livelihoods of smallholders. The Department of Plant Protection, for example, has been unable to deploy its two crop dusters because its pilots are not experienced in flying them. With a new wave threatening to destroy crops in the next few weeks, the government should ramp up pest control operations to eliminate the developing swarms before it is too late.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2020