Samburu, Laikipia, Marsabit and Isiolo

(B)eat the locust is a bottom-up answer to the challenges posed by the desert locust plagues in Eastern Africa. In the last two years, hungry desert locusts have devoured thousands of square kilometres of agricultural lands and nature, threatening the food security and incomes of millions of people. The frequency of invasions is only likely to increase because the climate changes into more favourable conditions. FAO is working with national governments to eradicate the insects but sticks to aerial spraying with chemicals which are banned in Europe because of their devastating effect on the environment. A mind shift is needed. A mind shift to listen to the voices of the community and protect their environment. A mind shift to turn the locust into an opportunity. (B)eat the locust will do just that, starting in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya.

The arid and semi-arid lands in the north of Kenya are populated by pastoralists like the Maasai. Their cattle are everything for them, providing food, income, and capital. Pastoralists are semi-nomadic and depend on natural resources to feed their cattle. In these communities, the impact of the desert locust is felt. When desert locust invasions destroy the already scarce feed resources, there is a risk of starvation of cattle and therefore the loss of livelihoods. Once fallen out of pastoralism, it is nearly impossible to obtain the investment to buy new cattle, resulting in deep poverty.

(B)eat the locust aims to turn the threat of desert locust outbreaks into an opportunity for pastoralist societies to diversify their livelihood. It will establish a continuously active insect value chain that can process desert locusts into animal feed, following a proven method. Community members will be trained to set up harvesting sites when an outbreak occurs. To meet market demand and have a consistent and high-volume supply in the value chain even when there is no desert locust outbreak, desert locust collectors will be trained to rear crickets and keep supply high. Market demand for high-protein animal feed is high in Kenya since there is a huge deficit and dependency on imported protein sources. Also, the market for insects as human food is maturing rapidly.

Many community members are concerned about the direct or indirect impact of chemical spraying on their cattle. Groups such as the Samburu and Maasai traditionally carry a lot of indigenous knowledge on natural remedies, and favour biopesticides over chemicals. Yet, it is not easy to stand up against the national government and influential parties such as the FAO. Therefore, the voices of the community are not heard. (B)eat the locust will support community voices, and assist them in promoting biopesticides to be used instead of chemicals. This is also important for the insect value chain development since desert locusts with residues of chemical pesticides cannot be processed into animal feed.

(B)eat the locust is a daring and innovative project with a potentially huge change in perspective on how desert locust outbreaks are treated globally. Because it takes place on a playing field with influential parties with high stakes such as national governments and UN organizations, there are no donors who are willing to partner with Cordaid in this endeavour. That is why we need NPL to step in. The daring character combined with the significant media attention NPL generates, will help to make this project a success.

The (B)eat the locust consortium is led by Cordaid, and co-implemented by the lead insect research institute in Africa ICIPE, and local grassroots organisation IMPACT. In addition, Cordaid has compiled a group of strategic partners (including government and private sector actors) who will consult the project during the three-year implementation.

Diversification of the livelihoods of pastoralist communities in desert locust-prone areas in Kenya based on an environmentally friendly and scalable insect value chain and to rear crickets for animal feed production. Crickets are one of the cheapest sources of protein and production cost requires very little compared to other protein sources.

My dream is to have an established insect-based value chain that can complement pastoralism and other livelihoods in the Northern region of Kenya. This will boost household economy of the target communities, hence enhancing their resilience through this new innovative project.