CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter presents the Background, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, scope of the study and Significance of the study.

1.1 Background

Connections between locusts and people date back millennia and remain a major food security challenge throughout the world today. For instance, in Senegal, West Africa, locust outbreaks are second only to drought in damaging agricultural productivity (D’Alessandro et al., 2015). The impressive capacity of locust swarms to rapidly move long distances and descend on communities unexpectedly has shrouded their source in mystery. Perhaps for this reason, locusts have often been viewed as a divine punishment or curse; both the Bible and the Qur’an describe locusts as one of the devastating plagues of Egypt (El-Mallakh and El-Mallakh, 1994).

The Desert Locust is a very opportunistic insect, once it has changed under favourable environmental conditions from the solitary into the gregarious phase, i.e. the phase when locusts group together in hopper bands and swarms. It can travel long distances and ravage whatever crop and pasture it encounters. The 2003–05 upsurge offers a classic example of this characteristic, which makes it so difficult to forecast accurately the development and spread of the Desert Locust, and subsequently undertake survey and control actions in a timely and effective manner.

Swarms move with prevailing winds and can cover over 100 km per day. When the conditions in the newly invaded places are dry, and do not offer suitable conditions to feed and multiply, they continue to move. As such, in early summer 2004, in Mali and Niger, swarms moved straight to the centres of these countries because of dry conditions in the north. At the end of the summer, when crops and pastures dried up in most of the Sahel, the locusts moved to Mauritania where suitable feeding and breeding conditions were still prevalent.

The unpredictability and overwhelming nature of these outbreaks has also likely contributed to the perception that, outside of active treatment of outbreaks, people are passive recipients of swarms. However, increasing evidence suggests that human decisions about how we manage our land influence locust population dynamics (Cease et al., 2015). For example, in Inner Mongolia, China, heavy livestock grazing promotes Mongolian locust, Oedaleus asiaticus, outbreaks by lowering plant nitrogen content (Cease, 2012). Many other locust species also originate in areas used for livestock grazing. Yet, despite the known impacts of grazing on rangeland grasshoppers (Branson et al., 2006) and our longstanding connection with locusts, the potential to influence locust populations through land management practices has received relatively little attention. Here, we discuss how locust behavioral and migratory plasticity can lead to unique human-acridid linkages, outline the pest status, ecology, and interactions with grazing for all locusts, consider similarities and differences among species in various grazing systems, and highlight potential areas for further research.

In the past, according to available records, swarms originating from the Central Region preceded Desert Locust population explosions in the Western Region. However, the 2003–05 upsurge was the first in the Western Region in which swarms from the Central Region played no part. Within 12 months the situation changed from solitary locusts, scattered over the northern part of the Sahel region, where they caused no damage, into one where swarms were spreading into pasture and crop land over an area extending from Chad to Mauritania, and from Morocco to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Thus, within a very short period of time, an extremely wide area was threatened by Desert Locust populations that were larger and denser than those encountered during the 1986–89 campaign. During the 1986–89 campaign, over a three-year period, 16.9 million ha were treated in the Central and Western Regions, compared to 12.9 million ha over some 15 months during the 2003–05 upsurge in the Western Region.

At low densities, locusts, and grasshoppers are critical to grassland ecosystem functioning (Branson et al., 2006). They cycle nutrients, shape plant community structure, and are an important food source for many animals including spiders and birds (Wiens, 1973; Joern, 1986; Belovsky and Slade, 2000; Oedekoven and Joern, 2000; Sokol-Hessner and Schmitz, 2002; Schmitz, 2008). Humans also rear and consume locusts (Stoops et al., 2016; Osimani et al., 2017); they are the second most commonly eaten insect after crickets (Mignon, 2002; Osimani et al., 2017). At high densities, however, they compete with livestock for forage. In this scenario, locusts become highly problematic. Of the roughly 6,800 known acridid grasshopper species (Cigliano et al., 2017), 19 are currently considered locusts (Cullen et al., 2017). Locusts are grasshoppers that, when exposed to specific environmental cues, develop into either gregarious and swarming or solitarious phenotypes (Pener, 1991; Cullen et al., 2017). These phenotypes differ in behavior, morphology, and physiology; however, their component traits can be decoupled, and vary among species. Behavior can change within hours for some species but other traits, such as morphology, can take several generations to fully shift.

Although in Uganda, food aid and other assistance were available to the households during war times, food aid rations were limited in dietary calories (Nkutu, 2008). Distribution of this food aid was also affected by poor road network and improper communication for timely deliverance of food to the distribution points. In Northern Uganda, the 25 years LRA insurgency forced over 2 million people in internally displaced camp (IDP), destroyed the infrastructure network, and the people of northern Uganda have not

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

For long, food security has been documented as a prime determinant of a healthy life, influencing all aspects of society including education, health care, and agriculture. In 2014, it was integrated into the Sustainable Development Goals for the post- 2015 development agenda (FAO, 2015). Studies indicate that Desert locust have the potential to destroy food crops in East African like non ever seen before, (Hugo, 2006; Tembo, 2009). Nevertheless, while 95% of the population in Abim Sub region is engaged in agriculture, with a high potential to have a highly developed agriculture base however the presence of deser locust in Abim district is seen as a major threat to food secueriry in the district, since the district is grappling with food insecurity. It’s against this background that this study intends to investigate into locust outbreak and their effects on food security with specific reference Alarek sub-county, Abim District.

1.3 Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is to examine the impacts of locust outbreak and their effects on food security.

1.4 Objectives of the study

To examine the causes of food insecurity Abim district.

To determine the challenges caused by desert locust Abim district.

To investigate the different ways of enhancing food security in Abim district.

1.5 Research Questions

What are the causes of food insecurity Abim district?

What are the challenges caused by desert locust Abim district?

What are the different ways of enhancing food security in Abim district?

1.6 Scope of the study;

This section of the study will consist of the study scope, georgraphical scope and time scope.

1.7 Content scope

This section will include; causes of food insecurity, challenges caused by desert locust and the different ways of enhancing food security.

1.7.1 Geographical scope

The study will be carried out in ABIM district.

1.7.2 Time scope

The study will be carried out from March to August 2020.

1.8 Significance of the study

The study will provide information to government of Uganda regarding causes of food insecurity.
The study will also provide future academicians with information on challenges caused by desert locust.

The study will also enable future researchers have information regarding the different ways of enhancing food security.