{"id":4097,"date":"2020-01-15T16:12:29","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T16:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=4097"},"modified":"2020-02-11T10:21:10","modified_gmt":"2020-02-11T10:21:10","slug":"locusts-add-to-the-woes-of-farmers-in-flood-hit-hiran-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2020\/01\/15\/locusts-add-to-the-woes-of-farmers-in-flood-hit-hiran-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Locusts add to the woes of farmers in flood-hit Hiran region"},"content":{"rendered":"

BELETWEYNE\u00a0 —<\/strong> <\/span>Farmers in central Somalia\u2019s Hiran region, whose farms were submerged by recent floods, are having to contend with swarms of locust devouring whatever they have planted since then.<\/p>\n

Kadiye Abdi Gadod, a farmer in Hodug, 34 km west of Beletweyne town, told Radio Ergo that locust swarms have set on his farm just as he was preparing to harvest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey ruined everything; onions, watermelons, tomatoes, and salads. I\u2019ve got to start again from scratch. All my money and hard labor have gone to waste!\u201d he complained.<\/p>\n

Kadiye, a father of 11 children, feels doubly unfortunate. His farm was flooded last October when the river Shabelle overflowed. He persevered and planted vegetables after the waters receded, only to have his crops gobbled up by locusts. He said he is now living on loans.<\/p>\n

According to the UN\u2019s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the locusts have already destroyed tens of thousands of hectares of farmlands in the Horn of Africa. It is considered to be the worst invasion of locusts in a generation.<\/p>\n

Mohamed Bashir Daqarre, Hirshabelle State deputy minister of agriculture, admits that the government has no means to tackle the locusts. However, they are assessing the damage caused to farmlands and grazing areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst affected farmlands are in Bulaburde, Jalalaqsi, Beletweyne, and Mahaday. When one swarm passes through, another one comes, so it\u2019s not over yet and we have to keep assessing the situation. There are also other areas that we can\u2019t access, due to insecurity, but they are nonetheless severely impacted,\u201d said the deputy minister.<\/p>\n

Ture Muhumed Afrahow, a farmer in Ba\u2019ad, 21 km north of Beletweyen, told Radio Ergo that the locusts invaded his rain-fed farm at the end of December and destroyed all his crops, including sesame, watermelon, and hay for the livestock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen such horrifying locusts. They settled on my green farm and turned it into a dry field in a very short time. They even stripped all the nearby bushes,\u201d said Ture.<\/p>\n

Farmers have been organizing themselves into groups and doing whatever they can to fight off the locusts.<\/p>\n

Osman Mohamud Abdi, a farmer in Ba\u2019ad, explained the various tactics they have been using to try to ward off the invading insects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been using every tool at our disposal. We fill jugs with small stones and shake them to make noise, we scream out loud, we even fire bullets, they keep coming. They were here just yesterday and today we saw them passing through an area just four or five kilometers from us,\u201d said Osman.<\/p>\n

Source: Radio Ergo<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BELETWEYNE\u00a0 — Farmers in central Somalia\u2019s Hiran region, whose farms were submerged by recent floods, are having to contend with swarms of locust devouring whatever they have planted since then. Kadiye Abdi Gadod, a farmer in Hodug, 34 km west of Beletweyne town, told Radio Ergo that locust swarms have set on his farm just …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-environment-and-disasters","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