Crops under siege: Climate change bringing new pests in Kenya

The findings of the scientific review of the impact of climate change on plant pests should worry East Africa and the continent about the grim future of food security. The report released recently by the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has provided strong evidence that climate change is quietly fueling the spread of crop destroying pests across the globe.

New pests and weeds are entering into the continent due to conducive climate. Increased spread of plant pests will exacerbate food insecurity across the region which is already suffering from dwindling harvests as a results frequent droughts and destructive floods caused by climate change. The review report, for instance, says that global warming has played a big role in the movement of swarms of locusts that recently flocked to Kenya and destroyed thousands of acres of crops in several counties exposing millions of people to famine.

Climatic changes such as increases in temperature and rainfall over desert areas, and the strong winds associated with tropical cyclones, provide a new favourable environment for the development, outbreak, survival and migration of the locust, the report says. The analysis has also linked climate change to increased presence of mycotoxins in crops. Aflatoxins are amongst the most poisonous mycotoxins and can lead to acute poisoning, damage DNA and cause liver cancer in humans, according to World Health Organisation.

The amount of harvest affected by aflatoxins in Kenya varies each year, depending on the weather: inadequate rain during cultivation weakens the crops’ natural defences against fungal infection and too much rain around harvest makes it difficult to dry the cereals before storage and can lead to higher aflatoxin.

Kenya’s Ministry of Health statistics show that liver cancer is responsible for four percent of cancer deaths in the country and it is likely that climate change could worsen the situation due to increased occurrences of aflatoxin.

The analysis shows fall armyworm that destroys maize, sorghum, rice, cotton and soybean; red palm weevil which attack palm trees, Soybean cyst nematode, coffee leaf rust, banana fusarium among other pests will become more common as a result of climate change.

The red palm weevil which is considered to be the major challenge for palm growers in China has already spread to 45 countries and will soon invade Africa, according to the report. The outbreak of fall armyworm in 2018 fall affected 25 percent of the maize cropland in Kenya, exposing more than 3 million people to huger, according to FAO. On average, at a global scale, between 10 and 28 percent of crop production is lost to pests. Apart from pests, the report warns that climate change is making destructive weeds to spread faster from one country to another.

Butterfly bush weed which is common in Europe, North America and New Zealand, for example, is spreading fast towards Africa due to favourable climate. Approximately 250 million people – equivalent to 20 per cent of the population – are experiencing hunger in Africa.  Africa’s population is expected to almost double by 2050.

Studies indicate that continued global temperature rises could cut crop yields by more than 25 percent rendering hundred millions of people food insecure. Increased crop destroying pests will further worsen the situation. The population of Kenya, for instance, is expected to hit 60.4 million from the current 48 million by 2030, according to government estimations. Only 16 percent Kenya’s land is productive and supports 80 percent of the population. An average of 3 million Kenyans face hunger each year and the number is expected to rise in the next few years due to devastating impacts of climate change.

East Africa should enhance surveillance and monitoring for pests ensure farmers access clean seed and planting material.