As a High School or Undergraduate teacher in Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences, or Agricultural Sciences, you can use this lesson plan to teach your students about the desert locust outbreaks of 2019-2020, how it may be causing food insecurity in some countries, and the link between the current locust outbreak with unusual weather and climate conditions.
Massive locust swarms, sometimes as large as the size of cities, have caused widespread damage to crops in parts of East Africa, South Asia, and the Arabian peninsula since October 2019 leading to a potential food crisis in some nations. The situation is further exacerbated as relief measures are hampered due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is thought that unusually wet and warmer weather conditions driven by climate change caused favorable breeding conditions for the locusts. According to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, “There is a link between climate change and the unprecedented locust crisis plaguing Ethiopia and East Africa. Warmer seas mean more cyclones generating the perfect breeding ground for locusts.”
This lesson plan provides teaching resources to introduce the desert locust plague of 2019-20 and how it is causing a potential food crisis in some countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen. It focuses on how unusual weather conditions caused by the Indian Ocean Dipole could have led to favorable conditions for the locust breeding and that future locust outbreaks could become more common in a warmer world.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a topic in Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences, or Agricultural Sciences.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
| Grade Level | High School, Undergraduate |
| Discipline | Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Locust Plague, Desert Locust, Food Security, Agriculture, Climate Change and Food Security |
| Climate Topic | Climate Change and Food Security, Disasters and Hazards |
| Location | Africa, Asia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, India, Pakistan |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online |
| Approximate Time Required | 60 mins |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Reading (10 min)
Introduce your students to desert locusts and locust plagues using a reading from the Desert Locust Information Service of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
Use the Frequently Asked Questions section and direct your students to read the following short sections.
Reading (15 min)
Introduce the topic of food security and the countries that experienced potential food shortages due to the locust swarms through an interactive reading of the World Resources Institute (WRI) titled ‘Which Countries Are Most Vulnerable to Locust Swarms?’ by Tina Huang.
Discuss with your students which countries are hotspots of locust activity in the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia and how the locust swarms are causing potential food insecurity there. The resource includes datasets and visualizations of vulnerable countries from the World Food Programme, real-time data on locust outbreaks, Famine Early Warning Systems Network, WRI’s Resource Watch platform, amongst others.
Readings (30 min)
Next discuss with your students how the current locust plague is potentially linked to climate change through two readings.
Reading 1: ‘A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame’ by Madeleine Stone for the National Geographic:
Reading 2: ‘Are the 2019-20 locust swarms linked to climate change?’ by Daisy Dunne at CarbonBrief:
Explain to your students how there was an unusually wet weather in East Africa over the last year or so. This included several cyclones which are rare in the region. This wet weather and storminess is thought to have caused favorable conditions for the locust breeding. Further explain to the students how the wet weather and storminess is related to the Indian Ocean Dipole system. It has been hypothesized that climate change may be affecting the Indian Ocean Dipole.
Further discuss with your students how future locust outbreaks could become more common in a warmer world.
Video (4 min)
Optional: A video on the Indian Ocean Dipole which affects the weather patterns in East Africa to West Australia by Prof Tracey Rogers, UNSW, Sydney.
Suggested questions/assignments for learning evaluation
Use the tools and the concepts learned so far to discuss and determine answers to the following questions:
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Video; ‘United Nations explains the mystery of desert locusts in Eastern Africa’ | ‘United Nations explains the mystery of desert locusts in Eastern Africa’, KTN News. This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Video; ‘Desert Locust in Kenya – Impact on Pastoralists in Turkana County’ | ‘Desert Locust in Kenya – Impact on Pastoralists in Turkana County’ by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This can be accessed here |
| 3 | Video; ‘Billions of locusts threaten food security in East Africa’ | ‘Billions of locusts threaten food security in East Africa’ by DW News. This can be accessed here. |
| 4 | Video; ‘Locust swarm threatens Somalia food crisis’ | ‘Locust swarm threatens Somalia food crisis’ by AP Archive. This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Webpage: FAQs | Desert Locust Information Service, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). |
| 2 | Reading: ‘Which Countries Are Most Vulnerable to Locust Swarms?’ | By Tina Huang for the World Resources Institute (WRI). |
| 3 | Reading: ‘A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame’ | By Madeleine Stone for the National Geographic. |
| 4 | Reading: ‘Are the 2019-20 locust swarms linked to climate change?’ | By Daisy Dunne at CarbonBrief. |
| 5 | Video; ‘The Indian Ocean Dipole and its impacts’ | Dr Tracey Rogers, University of New South Wales, Sydney. |
| 6 | Additional Resources |
| Grade Level | High School, Undergraduate |
| Discipline | Environmental Sciences, Social Sciences |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Locust Plague, Desert Locust, Food Security, Agriculture, Climate Change and Food Security |
| Climate Topic | Climate Change and Food Security, Disasters and Hazards |
| Location | Africa, Asia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, India, Pakistan |
| Language(s) | English |
| Access | Online |
| Approximate Time Required | 60 mins |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Reading (10 min)
Introduce your students to desert locusts and locust plagues using a reading from the Desert Locust Information Service of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
Use the Frequently Asked Questions section and direct your students to read the following short sections.
Reading (15 min)
Introduce the topic of food security and the countries that experienced potential food shortages due to the locust swarms through an interactive reading of the World Resources Institute (WRI) titled ‘Which Countries Are Most Vulnerable to Locust Swarms?’ by Tina Huang.
Discuss with your students which countries are hotspots of locust activity in the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula and South Asia and how the locust swarms are causing potential food insecurity there. The resource includes datasets and visualizations of vulnerable countries from the World Food Programme, real-time data on locust outbreaks, Famine Early Warning Systems Network, WRI’s Resource Watch platform, amongst others.
Readings (30 min)
Next discuss with your students how the current locust plague is potentially linked to climate change through two readings.
Reading 1: ‘A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame’ by Madeleine Stone for the National Geographic:
Reading 2: ‘Are the 2019-20 locust swarms linked to climate change?’ by Daisy Dunne at Carbon Brief:
Explain to your students how there was an unusually wet weather in East Africa over the last year or so. This included several cyclones which are rare in the region. This wet weather and storminess is thought to have caused favorable conditions for the locust breeding. Further explain to the students how the wet weather and storminess is related to the Indian Ocean Dipole system. It has been hypothesized that climate change may be affecting the Indian Ocean Dipole.
Further discuss with your students how future locust outbreaks could become more common in a warmer world.
Video (4 min)
Optional: A video on the Indian Ocean Dipole which affects the weather patterns in East Africa to West Australia by Prof Tracey Rogers, UNSW, Sydney.
Suggested questions/assignments for learning evaluation
Use the tools and the concepts learned so far to discuss and determine answers to the following questions:
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Video; ‘United Nations explains the mystery of desert locusts in Eastern Africa’ | ‘United Nations explains the mystery of desert locusts in Eastern Africa’, KTN News.
This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Video; ‘Desert Locust in Kenya – Impact on Pastoralists in Turkana County’ | ‘Desert Locust in Kenya – Impact on Pastoralists in Turkana County’ by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
This can be accessed here |
| 3 | Video; ‘Billions of locusts threaten food security in East Africa’ | ‘Billions of locusts threaten food security in East Africa’ by DW News.
This can be accessed here. |
| 4 | Video; ‘Locust swarm threatens Somalia food crisis’ | ‘Locust swarm threatens Somalia food crisis’ by AP Archive.
This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Webpage: FAQs | Desert Locust Information Service, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). |
| 2 | Reading: ‘Which Countries Are Most Vulnerable to Locust Swarms?’ | By Tina Huang for the World Resources Institute (WRI). |
| 3 | Reading: ‘A plague of locusts has descended on East Africa. Climate change may be to blame’ | By Madeleine Stone for the National Geographic. |
| 4 | Reading: ‘Are the 2019-20 locust swarms linked to climate change?’ | By Daisy Dunne at CarbonBrief. |
| 5 | Video; ‘The Indian Ocean Dipole and its impacts’ | Dr Tracey Rogers, University of New South Wales, Sydney. |
| 6 | Additional Resources | KTN News FAO DW News AP Archive |
