Impact of Natural Disasters on Education Outcomes: Evidence from the 1987-89 Locust Plague in Mali

Vreyer, Philippe De; Guilbert, Nathalie; Mesplé-Somps, Sandrine

doi:10.1093/jae/eju018

Cited by 44 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…These short-term devastating impacts on agriculture have long-term effects on livelihoods, including educational outcomes. A study based in Mali showed that children born during the 1987-1989 plague in villages hit by locusts were less likely to ever start school; the effect was greatest for young women (De Vreyer et al, 2014). Since 2005, and as of February 2019, no plagues have occurred, but there have been numerous localized outbreaks allowing formation of smaller swarms, including swarms originating from along the Red Sea in early 2019 (FAO Locust Watch: http://www.fao.org/ag/locusts).…”

Section: Subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae-clade Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Review on Locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and Their Interactions With Livestock Grazing Practices

2019

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Connections between locusts and people date back millennia and locusts remain a major food security challenge today throughout the world. Locust biology is often linked to abiotic conditions like temperature and/or precipitation, fueling the perception that aside from active control, humans are not key players in the interaction locusts have with their environment. However, several studies have shown that land management practices like grazing heavily influences locust-human linkages. In this review we synthesize published research and reports on connections between locust outbreaks and ranching. For this, we conducted an extensive literature search using Google Scholar on the 19 species of grasshoppers that are currently considered to be locusts or non-model locusts. Species were sorted according to their feeding guilds: (1) forb-and/or tree-feeding locusts; (2) mix-feeding locusts (grasses, forbs, and/or trees); (3) grass-feeding locusts. We review their pest status, ecology, and relationship with grazing. We then discuss the overall data and draw general patterns on how locusts and locust control affect livestock grazing through various mechanisms (competition, nutritional preferences, pesticide use, nutrient cycling). We draw attention to "telecoupling" a process in which land management practices like grazing have ecological feedbacks on locust populations, which in turn affects food security in distant regions due to the migratory capacity of locusts. Finally, we present new perspectives for sustainable management practices that integrate understanding of land management.

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Section: Subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae-clade Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Global Review on Locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and Their Interactions With Livestock Grazing Practices

2019

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“…These impressive plagues span a large distribution area, which make of the desert locust an international agricultural pest (Lecoq, , ). Locust outbreaks may have devastating consequences on food security, and their social impact can be visible on the long term, even 20 years after an invasion (Brader et al., ; Vreyer, Guilbert, & Mesple‐Somps, ). Due to their importance and severity, the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has established, in cooperation with the most affected countries, a long‐term survey database of desert locust populations starting in the 1960s.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate‐driven geographic distribution of the desert locust during recession periods: Subspecies’ niche differentiation and relative risks under scenarios of climate change

Meynard

Gay

Lecoq

et al. 2017

Global Change Biology

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The desert locust is an agricultural pest that is able to switch from a harmless solitarious stage, during recession periods, to swarms of gregarious individuals that disperse long distances and affect areas from western Africa to India during outbreak periods. Large outbreaks have been recorded through centuries, and the Food and Agriculture Organization keeps a long-term, large-scale monitoring survey database in the area. However, there is also a much less known subspecies that occupies a limited area in Southern Africa. We used large-scale climatic and occurrence data of the solitarious phase of each subspecies during recession periods to understand whether both subspecies climatic niches differ from each other, what is the current potential geographical distribution of each subspecies, and how climate change is likely to shift their potential distribution with respect to current conditions. We evaluated whether subspecies are significantly specialized along available climate gradients by using null models of background climatic differences within and between southern and northern ranges and applying niche similarity and niche equivalency tests. The results point to climatic niche conservatism between the two clades. We complemented this analysis with species distribution modeling to characterize current solitarious distributions and forecast potential recession range shifts under two extreme climate change scenarios at the 2050 and 2090 time horizon. Projections suggest that, at a global scale, the northern clade could contract its solitarious recession range, while the southern clade is likely to expand its recession range. However, local expansions were also predicted in the northern clade, in particular in southern and northern margins of the current geographical distribution. In conclusion, monitoring and management practices should remain in place in northern Africa, while in Southern Africa the potential for the subspecies to pose a threat in the future should be investigated more closely.

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“…During the 2004 invasion in the Sahel countries, at least 8 million people have suffered destruction of all or part of their food crops (Brader et al, 2006). The social consequences are visible on the long term, and 20 years after the 1987-1988 invasion, it was still possible to find a strong impact of the income shock on the educational outcomes of children living in affected areas of Mali (De Vreyer et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of solitarious desert locust population dynamics: lessons from historical survey data in Algeria

Lazar

Piou

Doumandji-Mitiche

et al. 2016

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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The desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria (Forskål) (Orthoptera: Acrididae), is a major pest and well known in its gregarious phase. However, it is not well understood during recession periods, when the solitarious phase populations are discrete. Nonetheless, these populations are at the origin of the invasions when ecological conditions become favourable. This lack of knowledge of the solitarious phase individuals impedes effective preventive management of this pest. Archive data collected in Algeria from 1980 to 2011 were used to analyse solitarious population dynamics across the Algerian Sahara where some outbreak areas are located that play a major role in the invasion process. The results confirm previous empirical observations on solitarious population dynamics. First, a clear difference could be documented between the northern and southern Saharan regions of Algeria concerning the locust dynamics and the impact of environmental conditions. The importance of runoff was clear to create suitable habitats over a long period and to very distant places from rainy areas. Second, a link, on an annual basis, between green vegetation and presence of solitarious locusts was found. Third, statistical relationships between various locations demonstrated a clear regional dynamics. Our study confirmed the importance of migrations of solitarious populations among Algerian regions and more generally within the recession area of this species. The operational implications of these findings are multiple. First, they confirm the need of a flexible and scalable preventive system during the year, from 1 year to another and with a clear distinction between the northern and southern Saharan areas of Algeria. Second, they also confirm the necessity for the inclusion of wadis and soil moisture estimations from remote sensing in geographic information systems for preventive management. And third, they clearly illustrate the importance to target solitarious locusts for more efficient preventive survey operations.

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Impact of Natural Disasters on Education Outcomes: Evidence from the 1987-89 Locust Plague in Mali

Cited by 44 publications

References 14 publications

A Global Review on Locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and Their Interactions With Livestock Grazing Practices

A Global Review on Locusts (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and Their Interactions With Livestock Grazing Practices

Climate‐driven geographic distribution of the desert locust during recession periods: Subspecies’ niche differentiation and relative risks under scenarios of climate change

Importance of solitarious desert locust population dynamics: lessons from historical survey data in Algeria

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