Plague of locusts threatens crops in food-short Sahara

By AHMED MOHAMED
The Associated Press

G. DIANA / AP A Mauritanian looks at a sky filled by a desert locust swarm near Kaedi, southern Mauritania, recently.

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Burning smoky bonfires of tires and trash, the people of Nouakchott tried to fight the onslaught of crop-eating bugs — estimated by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to be moving as fast as 60 miles a day and settling at a rate 200,000 locusts per acre. Blankets of the insects covered houses, cars and roads.

"It's beautiful to see and funny, the locusts on parade in the sky," marveled Aicha Bint Sadibouh, a woman in Nouakchott. "But when they invade the streets and homes, it's disastrous."

The locusts' descent made vivid a growing international warning: Unseasonably heavy rains up north had spawned the northwest Sahara's largest locust population since 1988.

Experts warned of threats to vital rainy-season planting now and harvests later. They urged international action to help an arid region perpetually on the edge of food shortages.

"Farmers are just now planting the seeds in the ground ... some farmers now are afraid to plant anymore seeds; they're afraid once seeds germinate and the little plants come up, they will be attacked by the locusts," said Keith Cressman, a locust forecast officer with the U.N. agency.

"The last risk is that when the crops are ready to be harvested, around September, that will coincide with the formation of new swarms" from eggs being laid now, he said. "That harvest could be seriously disrupted."

At risk are sustenance grain crops that feed millions in vulnerable Saharan nations. Vegetable crops for markets likewise were in danger.

The last comparable locust infestation, in 1987-89, cost more than $500 million to combat. About half that came from international donors, Cressman said.

This time, aircraft, pesticides, vehicles, sprayers and technical support are needed in the nine threatened countries. Donors, including the European Community, Italy, Norway, North Korea, Spain, the United States and FAO have provided about $9 million, the U.N. agriculture agency said.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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