- Africa
- Somalia
Other
A new framework to anticipate the impacts of locusts in Somalia
The Somali Red Crescent Society’s simplified EAP for desert locusts, validated in July 2026, is the first framework for this hazard within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
A new framework to anticipate the impacts of locusts in Somalia
The Somali Red Crescent Society’s (SRCS) simplified early action protocol (EAP) for anticipating desert locusts was validated in July 2026. As the first EAP for this hazard within the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, it demonstrates how anticipatory action is increasingly being applied beyond weather- and climate-related hazards.
While this is the first Red Cross or Red Crescent framework for locusts, other organizations have also been working to anticipate locusts in recent years. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its partners provided assistance ahead of locust outbreaks in 2024, in Eritrea and Madagascar.
Outbreaks of desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria), which can contain millions of insects, are often devasting for affected populations. They devour huge quantities of crops, destroying people’s food supplies and, in many cases, a major income source for families. They can also destroy the rangelands people depend upon to feed their livestock.
The simplifed EAP aims to reduce these losses through:
- one-off multipurpose cash transfers, to allow families to buy pesticides, fodder, trench-digging equipment or food
- early warnings and advisory services, which focus on the impacts of an outbreak; these will be disseminated through Somali Red Crescent Society volunteers, radio and TV broadcasts, and SMS messages.
The actions aim to assist 34,800 people in the coastal regions of Awdal and Sahil in Somaliland, and Nugal and Mudug in Puntland, all of which are known breeding grounds for locusts. The total budget available is 218,971 Swiss francs (around 270,000 US dollars/233,000 euros), of which 156,528 Swiss francs are for implementing the pre-agreed actions.
A two-phase approach to action
The simplified EAP for desert locusts uses a phased trigger approach:
- When reached, the readiness trigger will increase surveillance of an imminent locust threat, around six weeks before it is forecast to occur.
- The activation trigger (3-4 weeks before an outbreak) will lead to targeted support for at-risk communities (as noted above) when the threat of an outbreak is confirmed.
These triggers align with Somalia’s national process for monitoring and forecasting desert locust outbreaks, which are led by the National Desert Locust Centre and based on FAO’s monthly desert-locust bulletins, which provide an overview of regional and country-level locust activity for the upcoming six weeks. “The phased trigger approach gives the SRCS the time to prepare early and then act decisively when the threat becomes more certain," says Richard Muchena, the German Red Cross's anticipatory action delegate in Somalia. "It allows the SRCS to utilize the six-week window for readiness, while reserving targeted support for communities when the risk is confirmed."
The simplified EAP for locusts was developed by the SRCS with technical support from the German Red Cross and HeiGIT (Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology), and financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office. Thanks to Richard Muchena and Karen Dall, German Red Cross, for their inputs to this article.
Photos by SRCS; locust photo (c) Pixabay.