By Ndalimpinga Iita

After prolonged drought and significant losses endured over the years, growth of Sam Mabuta's maize crops looked promising. Yet hope was shattered over the weekend when locusts evaded his crop field, leaving only stalks.

"Now I have nothing to show for my labour," said Mabuta, a farmer from Mahundu village in Zambezi region in the north-eastern part of Namibia.

The thwarted farmer invested much money in land preparation, sowing, ploughing, weeding, and care of the field as he prayed for better yields.

"I spent nearly 10,000 Namibian dollars (671 U.S. dollars) since the start of the farming season, only to lose it all to the locusts. We do not know how we will survive. What will I even feed my family? " Mabuta questioned.

In Namibia, more than 289,644 people are food insecure, due to the drought that has affected agricultural production and productivity, according to the Namibian Vulnerability Assessment Committee report.

Meanwhile, the locusts continue to invade fields in the region, having spread to more than three villages already.

Based on observation and monitoring made thus far on the current outbreak of the locusts, more damage is anticipated, said Michael Sibeso, a headman of the Mahundu village.

"We do not know where the pests are coming from. Maybe from the neighbouring countries, but they spread like wildfire, wiping out the crops. There was a lot of maize, but now it is all gone. It is like people never even planted at all," Sibeso said.

To control the pest infestation, agricultural officers in the region are spraying fields with pesticides. While officials from both the regional and central government are exploring measures to control the outbreak.

Namibia becomes the third country to be invaded by locusts in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Malawi and Mozambique are facing an invasion of red locusts that originated in Oman, Western Asia, anticipated to further plunge the region into severe food insecurity that has prolonged since 2016, according to the SADC.

Pest outbreak remains a threat to the already food insecure 43.37 million people across 13 SADC member states, according to the 2019 SADC Regional Vulnerability Assessment.

"All these threats have cross-border impacts which emphasize the need for cross-border collaboration and sharing of information. Member states are urged to continue collaborating and putting in place measures to deal with these cross-border threats," said Stergomena Lawrence Tax, the SADC executive secretary.