Name? Ashok Gehlot
Westphalian identity? Indian
Age? 69
Why is he in the news? He is the Chief Minister of Indian State Rajasthan. Among many other countries, this part of India has been hit hard by a locust plague that has been eating through agriculture. Other victims include Pakistan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Oman and Yemen (they do not get spared from any pandemic, war or evil in this world).
Why do we care? While the world is heading towards a food crisis caused by its own panic and bad decision making, these countries have an additional risk added to their long list of problems. If the international community does not respond, millions more people could die. This seems like a good time for a Covid19-like-panic.
Why should you care? Because famine causing starvation tends to be bad and set off another round of climate refugees to your countries and who wants that? Multilateralism could be the answer but who are we kidding? If a pandemic can’t bring countries together, it’s unlikely a plague will.
Who else cares? China offered Pakistan help with its locust crisis by sending 100,000 ducks (which eat locusts). The duck idea has been moved off the menu since they tend to prefer a more humid climate than Pakistan’s desert. The current alternative to ducks is pesticides, which could set off another ecological set of problems. What a world we live in.
Any further comments? The underlying problem here is again, surprise, global warming.
“Years of drought in the region, followed by heavy rains and warmer temperatures in 2019, created “exceptional” breeding conditions for the locusts.”
Nairobi-based climate scientist Abubakr Salih Babiker
Unfortunately, these are the sort of news stories we will have to get used to. Just like with Covid-19, the ones most affected by this are the poorest of the world.
