{"id":3302,"date":"2019-07-15T22:40:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-15T22:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=3302"},"modified":"2019-07-20T07:45:03","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T07:45:03","slug":"somaliland-farmers-lose-everything-to-swarms-of-locusts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2019\/07\/15\/somaliland-farmers-lose-everything-to-swarms-of-locusts\/","title":{"rendered":"Somaliland farmers lose everything to swarms of locusts"},"content":{"rendered":"

HARGEISA (SoOHA) –<\/strong> Swarms of locusts have\u00a0<\/span>stripped larg<\/span>e\u00a0<\/span>tracts of farmland across 10\u00a0<\/span>districts in\u00a0<\/span>Somaliland, leaving farmers without any crops left to harvest.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The locusts have\u00a0<\/span>eaten<\/span>\u00a0crops including pumpkins, pepper, tomatoes, lett<\/span>uce onions, pawpaw, and oranges,\u00a0<\/span>in districts in\u00a0<\/span>Sahil,\u00a0<\/span>Marodi-jeh<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Awdal<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Sanag<\/span>\u00a0regions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Somaliland\u2019s minister of\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>griculture, Ahmed\u00a0<\/span>Mumin<\/span>\u00a0Seed<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0told Radio Ergo they had assigned<\/span>\u00a0a committee to assess the losses caused by the locusts. \u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey poured in from Yemen<\/span>. T<\/span>hey came\u00a0<\/span>across<\/span>\u00a0the sea<\/span>. W<\/span>e\u00a0<\/span>received<\/span>\u00a0alarms from the people and sent a team from the\u00a0<\/span>m<\/span>inistry<\/span>. We h<\/span>ave also been informed that the<\/span>\u00a0locusts are<\/span>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>Lughaya<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Gargaara<\/span>\u00a0and even in the coastal areas,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>the minister.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The minister said<\/span>\u00a0they had contacted the\u00a0<\/span>Desert Locust Control Organization for Eastern Africa,\u00a0<\/span>based in Ethiopia, and\u00a0<\/span>expect<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0representatives\u00a0<\/span>to arrive\u00a0<\/span>in a week<\/span>\u00a0to<\/span>\u00a0deal with the eggs laid by the locusts.<\/span>\u00a0Without helicopters to spray insecticide, the ministry could do nothing more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to this month\u2019s Desert Locust Bulletin by the Food and Agriculture\u00a0<\/span>Organisation<\/span>\u00a0(FAO), numerous swarms in\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>Yemeni highlands\u00a0<\/span>have\u00a0<\/span>moved to northern Somalia and Ethiopia.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ismail\u00a0<\/span>Saleban<\/span>\u00a0Abdi, the head of the farmers\u2019 association in\u00a0<\/span>Agabar<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0said they had burned<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the ruined<\/span>\u00a0crops.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0He said\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>Agabar<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Da\u2019ar-buduq<\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span>Harrirad<\/span>, the locusts had destroyed<\/span>\u00a0485 farms.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ahmed\u00a0<\/span>Hersi<\/span>\u00a0Bade,\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0farmer in\u00a0<\/span>Agabar<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0said his\u00a0<\/span>small<\/span>\u00a0farm had been stripped\u00a0<\/span>bare last month.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cClearly the locusts have had\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>huge impact and it<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s not on my farm only,\u00a0<\/span>they have invaded<\/span>\u00a0huge\u00a0<\/span>areas of land<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>They\u00a0<\/span>destroyed all\u00a0<\/span>the plants on my farm,\u201d<\/span>\u00a0s<\/span>aid Ahmed<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Ahmed was hoping to recover this year after his crops were destroyed by Sagar cyclone in<\/span>\u00a02018, but again he has lost everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the cyclone, I bought\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>$250 machine and cultivated my land. I planted crops and invested in fuel and workers. The total estimate of my investment is not less than $5,000<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d said Ahmed<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0who is worried about repay<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0his debts<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Abdiqadir<\/span>\u00a0Mohamud Ahmed in\u00a0<\/span>Agamsaha<\/span>\u00a0sa<\/span>id<\/span>\u00a0he\u00a0<\/span>was<\/span>\u00a0worried\u00a0<\/span>that the devastation was not over yet.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe larvae are worse than the full-grown locusts because they will grow to\u00a0<\/span>become many<\/span>\u00a0more locusts during the rainy season. The locust<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0will migrate\u00a0<\/span>away from here\u00a0<\/span>but the larvae will be left in the fields and will not leave until they grow wings. Before they grow they will continue to\u00a0<\/span>feed<\/span>\u00a0on the crops<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Abdiqadir<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Radio Ergo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HARGEISA (SoOHA) – Swarms of locusts have\u00a0stripped large\u00a0tracts of farmland across 10\u00a0districts in\u00a0Somaliland, leaving farmers without any crops left to harvest.\u00a0 The locusts have\u00a0eaten\u00a0crops including pumpkins, pepper, tomatoes, lettuce onions, pawpaw, and oranges,\u00a0in districts in\u00a0Sahil,\u00a0Marodi-jeh,\u00a0Awdal\u00a0and\u00a0Sanag\u00a0regions.\u00a0 Somaliland\u2019s minister of\u00a0agriculture, Ahmed\u00a0Mumin\u00a0Seed,\u00a0told Radio Ergo they had assigned\u00a0a committee to assess the losses caused by the locusts. \u202f\u00a0 \u201cThey …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-food-security-cluster","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t