Dr Patrick Karangwa, Director-General of Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), on Monday told The New Times that the Rwandan public should not panic over the desert locusts’ threat afflicting the eastern African region.
The likelihood that they will reach Rwanda, he said, is still minimal.
His comments came following confirmed reports that swarms of desert locusts on Sunday entered neighbouring Uganda, from Kenya, creating panic among farmers, pastoralists and leaders there.
Without disclosing details of the country’s preparedness, the RAB boss said Rwanda has been closely monitoring the situation in the Horn of Africa, and is not sitting idly.
He said: "The locusts’ threat last affected Rwanda several decades ago. Right now, they are still far away from us. If you look at the movement pattern of these locust swarms, you note that normally they first eat up an area before they move on.
"They always attacked the Horn of Africa region and not come up to Rwanda. There is a good probability they will not get here but this does not mean that we rest on our laurels. As is always the case, our institutions are ready and are collaborating to do whatever is necessary in case of an attack.”
For the past few months, billions of desert locusts have swarm across eastern Africa—mainly affecting Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia, with indication they were likely to spread further.
It is reported that the locusts often travel in dense, crackling swarms which can contain as many as 80 million locusts per square kilometre.
The swarms are massive and terrifying because these locusts eat all the vegetation they encounter.
In addition to destroying crops, they also consume the vegetation on cattle grazing land in a matter of hours.
Population should not panic
Mid last month, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Geraldine Mukeshimana, said the country was in a position to tackle the threat.
Dr Karangwa noted that his department is in touch with all other agencies and the Ministry of Emergency Management is monitoring the situation closely.
"The population should not panic that these [locusts] might get here. And in case they got here, the means to mitigate them are available. I can’t go into details now because we are not at the point for that yet. When we get to the point where a country has to intervene it is not only RAB that is concerned as other entities including the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Emergency Management also come in,” Dr Karangwa said.
"At this time, we wouldn’t tell you [that] these aeroplanes will be positioned here and so on. Just know that the concerned institutions are aware and are ready to intervene should it come any closer to Rwanda. And that the likelihood is still minimal, basing on the history of those invasions in the Horn of Africa, which have been occurring without reaching here.”
To combat them, Kenya and Ethiopia have used aeroplanes to spray pesticides but as the locusts spread, there are more of them than the local systems – with not more than eight planes – can handle.
According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aerial pesticide spraying is the only effective way to combat desert locust swarms.
It is reported that each square kilometre of swarm can include 40 to 80 million locusts and eat as much food as 35,000 people.
The FAO has warned of an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods in the worst affected area, the Horn of Africa.
Early this month, the FAO had warned that some swarms may still reach Uganda and South Sudan "in the coming days.”
Experts say the swarms – sparked by the unusually high number of cyclones in 2019 – are the worst to hit Ethiopia and Somalia in 25 years, and the worst in Kenya in 70 years.